Like Rhett and Scarlett
by Jenny7
Summary: Sawyer thinks about a classic story, and Kate shows him how much that story applies to both of them. Follows along with Exodus. Sawyer and Kate think of everything they’ve been through, and finally consummate their relationship.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Kate or Sawyer. I also don't own _Gone With the Wind. _Margaret Mitchell does. I just borrowed it as inspiration.

Summary: Sawyer thinks about a classic story, and Kate shows him how much that story applies to both of them.

Notes: Set right after "Deus Ex Machina". No one knows about Boone's accident yet.

"Like Rhett and Scarlett"

He sat on the beach, not too far from the ocean. He looked from one side of the beach to another and back again. Once he was satisfied that no one was looking back at him, he reached into his pack and pulled out a rather ugly pair of makeshift reading glasses. He backed farther into his shelter before cautiously sliding the spectacles onto his face. He then reached into his bag again and grabbed something else: a book. It was large and red with big bold letters on the cover. The letters said: _Gone With the Wind _by Margaret Mitchell

Sawyer reclined back in his shelter peacefully and studied the book first without opening the cover. He'd found it hanging out of one of the rich blonde's bags and thought it looked interesting enough to steal. Being a proud man of the south, Sawyer knew the story well enough. He always thought it funny how being on the losing side of a war created so much inspiration to celebrate what was lost. Why did anyone really care so much? So the south lost. Big damn deal. People lost stuff all the time. He'd lost plenty in his lifetime. At least he was making the best out of it instead of whining and yammering on about it.

He flipped the book open to a random page and read some. The words brought back memories that he would have rather kept hidden away for awhile. Memories of his mother mostly. She was a big fan of the book. Hell, instead of listening to books about three bears at bedtime he would be read excerpts of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler bantering back and forth like a couple of stubborn pansies. He hated the thought of it, yet continued to read the words on the page without pause.

"Stop your yammering and kiss the damn girl will ya?" He muttered to himself. The book frustrated him more then anything, yet at the same time totally enthralled him. It could have been the thoughts of his mother, back in the days when she was always home to read him a bedtime story. But that wasn't all it was. Something about Scarlett, her words as she rejected Rhett, reminded him of everything he wanted but couldn't have. It pissed him off.

"Ah!" Suddenly, in a fit of anger, he threw the book. "Dammit!" He said, loud enough to convey his annoyance but not so loud that the others could hear him.

He stared at the book, now lying open on the sand in front of him. The wind coming in from the ocean was blowing the pages left and right. They made a noise like, well, like paper flapping in the wind. This annoyed Sawyer even more.

Just as he had officially given up and was thinking about taking a nap to get the disturbing thoughts out of his head, a voice made him look up.

There was Kate, wearing her usual tank top and jeans. Her hair was blowing in the wind and made Sawyer ache with desire even more. "Lose something?" She was holding the dreaded book out to him.

" What makes you think I would read…" He pretended to be reading the title. "Some book about the wind?"

Kate smiled that thin little smile that he liked so much. Dammit, why did he have to like her so much! "Well, your wearing you're reading glasses. And somehow this book got all the way from Shannon's bag to here." She paused and cocked her head. "Lucky guess."

He reached up and smugly removed the glasses from his face. "So, come to bribe me to get the little rich girls book back huh freckles?" He held the glasses in his hand and gave her a cocky grin. "Ain't gonna be so cheap this time."

Kate laughed silently and shook her head. "It is a great story. Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, so in love yet unable to get it together enough to actually be together. Unable to get past their monstrous egos and mile long stubborn streaks long enough to realize their true feelings for each other." She paused and opened the book to the page towards the middle. Then she began to read.

"_There's one thing I do know, and that is that I love you, Scarlett. In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you. Because we're alike - bad lots both of us, selfish and shrewd, but able to look things in the eyes and call them by their right names...I've loved you more than I've ever loved any woman. I've waited longer for you than I've ever waited for any woman."_

He was entranced by her. As she said the words he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end. He was both curious by her intended mystery and hopeful that maybe it wasn't too late, at least not yet.

She looked up at him and sighed. "That's my favorite quote. Too bad that she just doesn't get it. At least not until its too late." She walked closer to him and crouched down next to him. She held the book out to him, locking her eyes with his. "it's a good book, you should read it sometime."

For a moment their eyes met and he saw something in her that he had never seen. All the stubbornness that usually resided in her was gone. She was completely open. More then anything he wanted to kiss her at that moment. But still, something held him back. Was it his stubbornness? His ego?

She dropped her gaze and disappointment showed on her face. "I'll see you around Sawyer."

He watched her walk away and felt a hollow pit forming in his stomach. She was right. They were playing their games, just like Scarlett and Rhett. Well screw that! He wasn't no pansy and he wasn't going to let her slip through his fingers.

He picked up the book, grabbed his ugly makeshift reading glasses, and trudged along the beach after her.


	2. Rhett Rewrites the Ending

Disclaimer: I do not own Kate or Sawyer. I also don't own _Gone With the Wind. _Margaret Mitchell does. I just borrowed it as inspiration.

Summary: Sawyer thinks about a classic story, and Kate shows him how much that story applies to both of them.

Notes: Set right after "Deus Ex Machina". Locke has brought Boone to Jack. I had to change a few small details around in order to make the story work, but the main plotline is in place.

Chapter 2: Rhett Rewrites the Ending

Sawyer walked along the beach towards camp, determination set in his eyes. He needed to find Kate and he needed to find her now, before his courage wore off that is. Before he had been afraid, afraid that Kate could never be interested in an outcast like him. The doc seemed more like Freckles' type, hell the doc seemed more like every woman's type.

He heaved a tremendous irritated sigh as the thought of the doc crossed his mind. He always found a way to be the big damn hero. He was always saving lives and fixing headaches and curing poison ivy and all that crap that Sawyer didn't know nothing about. That doc was a tremdous pain in his ass, and he intended to stay as far away from the bastard as he could. He figured as long as he wasn't standing right next to the big shot knight in shining armor then maybe he actually would stand a chance to be seen as a decent guy. But compared to the hero, Sawyer would always be the guy everyone loved to hate. Not that he minded. Actually, it was what kept him amused most days. But when it came to Freckles…well that was a whole other story.

And then, he found her.

There she was, talking to the big damn hero again. Had she forgotten him already? Had she already abandoned Rhett for Ashley? He mentally smacked himself for ever getting into this ridiculous game. His determined gaze turned to one of anger and frustration. It occurred to him that maybe it was all a tease, set to punish him for, well, everything bad that he'd done since they'd landed on this godforsaken rock.

Because, in the end, Scarlett didn't end up with Rhett. Sure, it wasn't her call. Rhett had left her because he'd finally decided that she was a bitch and too much trouble for his own good. Did Sawyer need more trouble? Not really. Hell, he could find trouble easier then sand on this damn island. He didn't need Freckles to help him out with that one.

And the voice in the back of his mind said "Screw her. Go back to camp and take a nap like you were planning on doing." He turned around and the book fell from his hands and into the sand. He regretted that, just for those few moments, he had thought he was deserving of all the happiness that she could give him. He was wrong. He chanced one last look in her direction.

Something was wrong. The mountain man was there, and the rich chick's big brother was in his arms. Big brother was bleeding and Jack was tending to him. He just barely caught a glimpse of Freckles as she ran off into the woods. Not one more thought passed through his head before he headed off in her direction, careful to avoid contact with the doc and the mountain man.

He finally caught up with her, of all places, at his campsite. She was searching through his bags with determination.

"Hey Freckles!" He shouted. She looked up from her place in his shelter. Something was clearly wrong here. She was not nearly as free and confident as she had been. He was out of breath when he reached her. He rested his hands on his knees and stared at her. "What happened to big brother? Its look'in bloody back there."

She had tears in her eyes, but she was too strong to let them fall.

"Boone's hurt really bad. Sawyer, I need all your alcohol." He immediately obliged. More then anything at that moment he wanted to take her into his arms and hug her. These compulsions weren't normal for Sawyer and, frankly, they really freaked him out.

"Sure, whatever you need. As long as I can come with ya." He reached into his bags and took out handfuls of tiny airline bottles.

She gratefully accepted the bottles and put them in her bag. "Thanks Sawyer," She said gratefully, "but I think we have enough help right now." She stood up to leave.

"Wait!" He said loudly. She stopped and looked back at him. He stood and grabbed her by her wrist. "For the record, Rhett Butler was an asshole for treating Scarlett like he did. He was an ass and a coward. If he had been a better man he would have let her kiss him in the end, instead of letting her go. He was a goddamn pansy and I bet he'll regret it everyday for the rest of his sorry life." He stopped and looked down, afraid to see her expression. "Anyway, I just thought you should know that."

When he looked up again she was looking back at him. He couldn't read her expression at first, it was one of confusion mixed with thoughtfulness. He moved to let go of her wrist, to let her go.

Then she was kissing him. He lost track of time and place and everything except for the sensation of her lips against his. It was halfway through the kiss when he began to actually kiss her back and he lifted his hand to brush the hair out of her face. It was even better then he had imagined. But it wasn't seductive or passion driven. It was something else. It was need. Pure need. She needed something, and he was able to give it to her. It wasn't what he had pictured it to be, but it was real none-the-less.

She broke the kiss quickly when they both became aware of the emergency that had brought them together in the first place. She looked down, as if unsure about what she was about to say.

"If you want to help, well…" She began. He took her hand again, signifying that his intentions were purely to help. "We can't find Shannon. She should be here just in case…" She trailed off again.

He cupped her face with his hand. "Gotcha." He noticed that there was something else in her eyes, it was fear. The same thing that had been in her kiss. He pulled her into a hug which she accepted without much fight. He whispered in her ear. "It'll be ok. Doc'll make 'im better. That's his job, right?" She pulled back and looked at him with gratitude. She nodded in reply and turned to go back to camp, breaking into a run as she reached the woods.

He turned and headed towards camp. Maybe he couldn't fix the patient. Maybe he couldn't save his life. But he was good for somethan'. He could do this simple task and maybe big brother wouldn't have to bite the big one all alone. Or, maybe Sticks could give Big Brother the strength to go on, or whatever they say about that sort of thing.

Maybe he wasn't no big damn hero. But he could make _her_ smile. He could make her day easier. Rhett wouldn't do that for Scarlett, but he wasn't Rhett. He was Sawyer. And she was Kate. And they had their own story to define them.

Now, where would a rich chick go to hide anyway?


	3. Rhett Butler Saves the Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: This coincides with the episode "Do No Harm". Major plot line is, once again, in place. I just tweaked a few little details.

I also want to thank everyone for the reviews! I appreciate the support and you give me the inspiration I need to keep this going.

Summary: Sawyer starts on his quest to find Shannon, all the while thinking about another special girl and a very special kiss.

"Rhett Butler Saves the Day"

He walked, once again, with determination. But, this time, he intended to find a different girl. Sawyer wasn't just looking for the rich chick though. He was looking for every person that the rich chick hung around with. Sawyer may have been the outcast of the island, but that didn't mean that he didn't pay attention to the occasional island gossip. In fact, if the others knew him better, they would know that Sawyer was actually one of the nosiest people on the island. He enjoyed snooping around in other peoples business, always had really. It was how he had his fun. Hell, it could even be quite useful sometimes.

Times like now actually.

For example, Sawyer knew that the rich chick had recently begun dating the arab guy. What was his name? Hell, Sawyer only knew him as Ali Babba. Although, personally, he'd found their comparison to be a big odd. Oddly enough, whether it was the southern upbringing coming to surface or he was just a sick bastard, he noticed a more romantic connection between rich chick and big brother. But he had made a personal choice not to interfere with other people's sex lives, at least not since that _one_ time. Sawyer winced and shook his head to get the image out of his mind.

So Ali Babba this was one person on his list of people to search for. He also knew that the rich chick was a pretty big airhead, as said by some of the others, and enjoyed sunbathing when everyone else was doing their share of the work. He had nothing against laziness, he himself had been known to be that way sometimes. But this information told him that she would not be likely to be hanging out around the caves, more likely closer to the beach. Sawyer deduced all of this rather quickly and once these facts had been considered and the plan was in place, he had nothing else to think about.

There was, of course, the kiss. He smiled at the thought of it. It had been, he thought, one the best damn kisses he'd ever had the pleasure of participating in. It had everything that he looked for in a kiss, without the fact that the girl was being forced to kiss him anyway. That had been their first kiss technically. Although, the situation wasn't so different. She still had needed something from him. Only this time, he really did have what she needed. He was able to give it to her and show her that he could be a good guy.

He could only hope that she had figured this out. Because he wasn't about to say it out loud or nothing'.

But most of all, he remembered the look on her face just before the kiss. It was so different then anything he'd seen in her before. It was vulnerability. It was need. It was the look of a puppy who's begging for the pork chop that you have on your plate at your neighbors barbecue. Like nothing else will satisfy this need it has, _only_ that pork chop. Like only _you_ can bring it back from the bottomless pit of depression and make it happy again by giving it your dinner.

Yea, that was the look. And to Sawyer, this actually _was _a very romantic comparison.

Forcing himself back to reality, he concentrated on the situation at hand. A brother was very sick and his sister was no where to be found. He searched through the sea of survivors mewing around the caves, looking for the arab guy. He didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. He stopped a few people and asked them, but he preferred to work alone for the most part. Then, it occurred to him. Ali Babba and the rich chick were both no where to be found. If they were together, considering the currently gossip going around, they must be doing something naughty and cute like all new lovers do. If there was anything Sawyer knew about it was romance and the sort of atmosphere that put lovers in the mood. He smiled in pride at the thought. Yea, he could be a major asshole. But he could also be a romantic sonofabitch when the mood struck him.

The waterfall. The one he and Freckles had found a few weeks back. That was where they were.

Fifteen minutes of straight running found him at the edge of the trees where the waterfall was located. Sure enough, there they were. Having a cute little lovers picnic. It looked…he tried to think of some sarcastic way to describe it. Finally, he sighed. It looked damn sweet. It looked like something he wished he could do with _her._ But, maybe he could. Maybe there was hope now. Or…not. He had always been pessimistic like this. Hell, with his history how could he not? People couldn't be trusted from one minute to the next. Who knew what Freckles was thinking about that kiss now, thirty minutes later. He put the thought out of him mind, concentrating on the girl sitting a few feet away.

He walked out into the clearing, interrupting their fun. He was out of breath from the run to get here and slightly flushed and sweaty. The girl looked at him with disgust…the man with disdain. He was used to it.

"Sawyer?" The arab guy asked. He tried to calm his breathing. Sawyer, still slightly out of breath, pointed at the rich chick. She looked frightened by the gesture.

"You…come back…to camp." He demanded. But it came out more like a few weak phrases put together.

"Excuse me?" She demanded and the bitch in her began to show. Sawyer was getting frustrated.

"You're brother is back at the caves bleeding internally Sticks. Thought you might like to come see him a spell." He finally managed to make a demand. Her face turned from annoyance to anger to shock to fear all in a matter of seconds. Ali Babba just seemed shocked and suspicious.

"What happened?" Ali Babba demanded. He stood up and went up to Sawyer, looking ready for a fight.

Sawyer went on defense and stood tall. "Look Ali Babba, I didn't touch the guy ok? So stop right there." They locked eyes for a moment before Ali Babba finally backed down.

"Take me there!" Demanded a female voice from behind Sawyer. He turned to notice that the rich chick was already heading into the trees and back to the caves. He took one last look at Ali Babba before jogging behind her. He could hear the Arab guy following close behind him.

Hell, why had he done this again? Oh yea, because _she _asked him too.

Dammit, one kiss and he was already making sacrifices for her. But in his own defense, it _had_ been one hell of a kiss.


	4. Rhett and Scarlett Play Doctor

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: This story coincides with the episode "Do No Harm". No major plot changes have taken place, just some small details have been changed.

Summary: Sawyer delivers Shannon to her brother, and takes part in another special delivery along the way.

"Rhett and Scarlett Play Doctor"

Fifteen minutes later they were back at the caves, and Sawyer found himself in the middle of a bloodbath. The rich chick was freaking out, and the Doc was having a hard time keeping her at bay. It was the Arab guy that finally managed to get her calm enough to speak to her brother, and even then she could barely stop crying long enough to utter two words.

Sawyer stood in the background for a bit. He was unsure as to what to do next. The sight of all the blood and guts was getting to him, although he didn't usually fancy himself to have such a weak stomach. All he could think was 'What the hell is Doc doin to that guy?" Blood covered everything and everybody in the vicinity of Big Brother and the poor guy seemed to be suffering. At one point it seemed he was building some sort of guillotine type contraption. Sawyer shook his head and looked away.

Dear God, what a mess.

Sawyer thought about the Marshall. That man had been in pain. He had been in so much pain that his cries echoed across the damn beach. He needed to be put out of his misery. Which is what Sawyer had planned to do, it was his thing he figured. Doc can save the people and he can kill them when they can't be saved. Hell, at least they wouldn't be competing for business. But then he'd messed that up too. Just like he messed up a lot of things in his life. He could never seem to get it right, no matter how much he wanted it. He could never take down his walls, even for a moment.

But, actually he had. That day. With Freckles. The thought seemed to stun him back into life.

Where was Freckles? He searched around the area and didn't notice her anywhere. He would have thought she'd be right next to the Doc, helping him in his noble deed. But she was no where. Much to his surprise, he became worried about her. He never worried about anybody, unless it was himself of course. His stride became more purposeful, more panicked. Where was Freckles?

He decided to head into the woods towards his camp. Maybe she was there. Maybe she had fallen and hurt herself on her way here or back to where she came from. Maybe no one had found her yet. These thoughts plagued his mind and suddenly he remembered why he hated caring about someone so goddamn much.

Suddenly he froze. There was screaming. Someone was screaming, a woman. It was a woman's scream.

"Kate!" He shouted and headed towards the frightening sound. Whoever it was sounded like they were in an enormous amount of pain. What was wrong with her? Had somebody hurt her? He would kill them!

He found an entrance to clearing and raced through it so fast that he could barely stop when he saw Kate standing in it. He stumbled and nearly fell on his face.

"Kate? You ok? Why were you screaming?" He said all at once, not noticing the pregnant girl lying on the ground next to them. He grabbed her shoulders and seemed to be looking her over protectively.

"I'm fine Sawyer. I wasn't screaming." She looked him in the eyes for a moment and her gaze reassured him. She was concerned about something, but she was ok. "It was Claire. She's having the baby."

Sawyer looked down and noticed the pregnant girl lying there, legs spread wide open. He instinctively turned his head in respect to her privacy. "Goddamn woman! You scared the shit out of me!" He decided that this would be a great time to shout at Kate for making him feel so…unlike himself.

"Sawyer…" She began. Their eyes met and she was smiling at him. He felt a smile dangerously close to his own face as well. Damn her and her smile. "I don't think this is the best time to start screaming at each other." She gestured back to the girl on the ground.

"Yes….please…" The girl panted in between contractions. "…need…help."

"Claire!" They heard a voice shouting in the distance and some thrashing around in the trees nearby. Suddenly, the rock star appeared in the clearing and immediately went to the girls side. "Are you ok Claire?" He said in his preppy British accent.

"She's fine Charlie." Kate said, and knelt down next to her. She appeared to be composed and calm, but Sawyer knew better. She was terrified and didn't know a damn thing about birthing babies. He recognized the fear, way deep in her eyes. "I just need you to hold her hand so she can have this baby ok?"

Sawyer smiled automatically at her words and the way that she was able to calm them both down so quickly. He was amazed by her. He had to admit.

"Need me to boil some water or something Freckles?" He budded in. It was less of a question and more of a confirmation that he planned to see this through to the end, right by her side. She looked up at him and smiled.

"No Sawyer. But do you still have that watch?" He looked down at his wrist and confirmed that, yes, he did indeed still have the watch on. He'd found it on one of the dead bodies at the waterfall. No one really knew the whole story behind it except for Freckles.

"Yes maam." He replied. She smirked at the gesture of mock politeness.

"I need you to time the contractions. From the time they start to the time they stop. Got it?" She nodded, hoping he understood. As much as Sawyer wanted to understand, he had to wonder about something.

"Sure Freckles, but, uh, how do I know when the contractions start?" There was a short pause before the pregnant girl began to scream loudly.

Kate turned to help Claire, but not before giggling. Sawyer assumed it was the expression of fear and realization on his face that caused her giggles. He once again took pride in the fact that he could make her happy even in the worst of circumstances.

So he timed the contractions, one after the other. It seemed it had been hours since this had started. Sawyer wasn't naïve, but he'd never been in a delivery room before and certainly had never helped deliver a baby before. But Freckles seemed to have complete control over the situation, even if she really didn't. However, he suspected that, since the pregnant girl had most of the work to do anyway, that pretending to have control might work just fine.

For most of the process Sawyer had tried to keep his eyes away from the pregnant girls open legs. Sawyer may have been a jackass, but he was also a gentleman. He also figured that the rock star would try to kill him if he took a peek, and he really didn't need that kind of pathetic drama at the moment. But suddenly, when things seemed to be getting more tense, he found himself looking down at the birth. In one swift push he watched the pregnant girl give birth to a baby boy.

"Holy hell!" He exclaimed, in pure disgust. "What the hell is all that…stuff?" Kate giggled and held the newborn while Charlie used the scissors Kate had found to cut the cord. She handed the baby over to Claire, who cooed over it with Charlie at her side.

Sawyer stood back and took in the scene. After securing the fact that the girl and the baby were alright, she moved over to where Sawyer stood. He turned his head in her direction.

"Now that, was disgusting." He paused. "I'm sorry Freckles, kids are great and all, but the way all that…stuff…works is just disgusting." He talked more for show then anything. He knew that she would see through him and his comments just like she always did.

She stood firm and cocked her head, curling her nose as if she'd just smelled something bad. "Yea, I think maybe you're right for once Sawyer." She took in another look at Claire and Charlie. "But, its not so bad once its all over. Its even kind of…cute." He looked over and saw a very pretty smile on her face.

"Yea…" He continued to study her face. She continued to look straight ahead, ignoring his gaze. Finally, she situated herself on the ground in a sitting position. After a moment she reached out her hand, linking her fingers with his and pulling him down next to her. They took in the moment together, and Sawyer silently shook his head as he wondered what the hell he was getting himself into here.

After the appropriate time was allotted for the sentimental moment to reach its peak, Sawyer gave another disgusting grimace.

"So, you gonna do that someday Freckles?" Their hands were still joined, but only by their two first fingers. She smiled and looked down, as if trying to hide from his stare. Sawyer knew she was anything but shy. He found the gesture adorable nonetheless, and he then mentally smacked himself for being such a pansy.

"No." She said simply, shaking her head. He was puzzled by this answer.

"No? Just no? I thought all women wanted to go through that torture." She smiled and shook her head.

"Not all women." Sawyer took a moment to think this over. He couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed by this answer. Although, he could truly understand what she meant. There were women who should not be mothers, and sadly, most of 'em that he'd met already had a litter of their own. But, this was _Freckles, _which always made things a whole lot different.

"And may I ask why not?" He asked, already knowing her answer.

"Sawyer, come on." She looked him straight in the eye. It made him squirm slightly. "Me? A mother? I can't even keep my own life together, much less give birth to another one."

He heard her answer and thought it through some more. She seemed serious all a sudden, sullen. He wanted to pull her close, but lost his confidence at the last moment.

"Well, for the record Freckles, I think you'd have some really great looking babies." He paused until her saw her smile again. "Now come on Freckles! The world needs people like us to reproduce. Hell, you've seen all those ugly people out there! We can't have them all having litters of ugly babies and passing the ugly through generations! Now I say we make a pact right here and now to spread our pretty genes to our own children and our children's children."

Now she was giggling. And he was smiling a bigger smile then he had since they'd crash landed what seemed like forever ago.

"So, whatdya say Freckles?" He held out his free hand. She looked at him with a great big smile, as if planning some notorious scheme. "Let's shake on it."

She let go of his fingers but instead of reaching for his hand she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. This wasn't a kiss of need, like last time. It was a kiss of thank you. It was a kiss of friendship and relief and romance and tenderness. It lasted longer then the other two kisses had and Sawyer couldn't believe how this one could be so much better then the last one. But it wasn't better, it was different. He could hear the two new parents giggling to the side of them, but he didn't care. He figured if he was going to give them a show, it damn well was going to be a good one. He grabbed Freckles at the back of her head and her side and pulled her into his lap, dipping her down for a deeper kiss as he did it.

Finally, as the kiss subsided, he found himself holding Freckles in his lap. They were both flushed and smiling.

She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Oh hell, he thought, no use in fighting it anymore. Damn, if he wasn't in love.


	5. Rhett & Scarlett in Spite of Everything

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: Thanks for all the great reviews! I read every one and enjoy the fact that other people enjoy my visions of Sawyer and Kate as much as I do. Please continue to let me know what you think. )

Summary: This chapter will be a bit heavier then the others have been. It deals with Sawyer and Kate's reactions to Boone's death. Be prepared for angst and drama.

Rhett and Scarlett In Spite of Everything

As the day ended and the sun was setting, a solemn mood overtook the group of survivors. One of their own was dead. Boone had not made it through the afternoon. His injuries proved to be too much for him to withstand. Shannon was tearful, but relieved to have been with her brother at the end of his life. They hadn't said much to each other. Just 'I love you' and "I'm sorry for, well, everything.". The rest was understood. Sayid was there to comfort Shannon. The Doctor, though, was left all alone in the end. He'd lost one. This one was different then the others. This one was one that he knew. He was one everyone knew.

But as Claire brought her new baby to be introduced to the group, all eyes were on her and the newborn and all eyes left the sight of Boone's corpse. It was exactly what the group needed to see, life. It was like a ray of hope on a dark night, that baby. It seemed to have more power then any human, animal, polar bear, monster, or supernatural being on that island. Such a small and helpless entity, capturing the attention of all.

But Sawyer preferred the corpse.

It wasn't that he didn't see the miracle of new life before him. It wasn't that he didn't understand how this tiny infant could bring so much joy to those around him. He understood. He saw the joy and had felt it at the birth, along with a lot of other nausea related feelings of course. Babies brought happiness by the pound. Someone had said that near him once. He remembered it clearly because it had made him realize how really dependent people can be on little things. Little things that can go wrong so easily. Something that you base your entire world on can disappear in a heartbeat, or a lack of one in many cases.

So here he was, watching the abandoned body of big brother. The sister had run off with the Arab guy on her tail. Apparently she couldn't bear to be near the corpse anymore. Sawyer, however, couldn't make himself look away for too long. It was almost surreal, like the guy would blink his eyes, cough a few times, and then wake up as if nothing had ever happened to him. He didn't _look _dead. Not like Sawyers parents had looked dead. Not like the man he'd killed.

Suddenly Sawyer wanted to vomit. He hated death. He despised death. Yet, he couldn't force himself to walk away from it.

"Want some company?" He sensed her even before she spoke. It was hard to believe that only hours before they were smiling, looking into each others eyes like two people joined somehow. Watching the damn baby being born and rejoicing in the good news. And they had kissed, and it was wonderful. But that was before big brother died. Now, Sawyer was struggling to keep the one hole in the everlasting walls around his heart from closing up forever.

Without a word, he patted the stump of dirt next to him.

Kate sat down, knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She couldn't get any farther away from him, he thought. Maybe she was feeling it too. Maybe neither of them could handle this kind of relationship, at least not when the chances of losing it were so great and ever threatening.

"Sawyer…" She began, but stopped mid sentence as if she had lost her courage. She looked back down at the ground, trying hard not to look at the dead body in front of them.

"Save it Freckles. You don't have to." He was trying to help her. He was trying to make her see that what they had experimented with early could never be. The reason was right in front of them. Death enveloped both of their lives like a tapeworm ready to drain every good thing from them. Sooner or later, death would tear them from each other. He felt his eyes begin to water and closed them to prevent any suspicion on her part that he might be crying. No one had ever seen him cry, at least not since he was eight years old. If he could help it, no one ever would.

He felt her hand on his arm. It was a simple gesture. It was a nice warm feeling in comparison to all of the cold that seemed to be holding his body in place on that stump of rock and dirt.

"Its weird. I feel, guilty somehow. Like I did something to contribute to this." Kate said all of a sudden. The statement broke the thought recordings in Sawyers head that made him think about his past and all the dead that would haunt him forever.

"Hell, Freckles. Don't do that!" He was angry with her. She looked up abruptly and dropped her hand from his arm. It was almost a fear reaction. He hated it.

"Do what? Blame myself? I'm not blaming myself Sawyer. I'm not stupid." She paused and winced. "I know what's my fault and what's not my fault, ok?" She had tears in her eyes now.

For the first time during the entire conversation, he looked up at her. He looked at her for a long time before breaking the silence.

"Me too." Was what he said next. He sighed and gestured toward Boone. "I didn't drop this guy off the cliff or even tell him to climb up the damn thing in the first place! I didn't tell him to go play Crocodile Hunter with the mountain man or risk his life to kill a few goddamn boar! I didn't do this!" He gestured heavily towards the body. A heavy silence followed as Kate watched him intently. She had tears falling down her cheeks now. He sniffled back tears but passed it off as nothing. "But death is death dammit! When you're responsible for death…" He shook his head. "It follows you like a bad goddamn penny. And it is _always_ your fault in some way."

He stopped to breath. He stopped to take in what had just happened. He took a moment to push back the tears forming in his eyes. Then, he heard her voice again.

"Sawyer…" This time was different then the first time. This time was desperate. He turned his head and looked towards her, afraid of what he would see. Her lip was quivering and her eyes were red and brimming with fresh tears. The hair around her face was wet from the salty liquid. "Please stop it." She pleaded, holding her hands to her ears. She shook her head back and forth with her eyes now closed. "Please stop saying those things."

He saw her then. He really saw her for what she was and what she had been before. He saw the pain in her eyes, the same pain that was in his eyes. The same rage and fear and denial that he nurtured in himself every single goddamn day of his life. It was inside of her too. Only one thing could cause pain like that to live inside of a person. He knew that she had killed, but he never knew that she tortured herself for it in the same way that he did. Every day and every night, until there was room for nothing but more torture. Until the voices that said 'you don't deserve to be happy' became louder and louder.

He reached over and pulled her into his arms. He smoothed her hair out of her face and held her as close as he could. She resisted his embrace at first, punishing herself for her wrongs. But he was insistent and soon she had given in and laid her head against his chest. He instinctively placed light kisses on her temple lovingly. She shook with sobs and he had to hold her tighter to keep her near.

As she began to calm down a bit and get more control over her emotions, he spoke.

"Kate?" He whispered in her ear. She lifted her head to look him in the eye. This is when she would first see that he was crying too. Not uncontrollably, but softly. "Tell me that I deserve to be happy. Tell me that I deserve to be with you." He leaned his head against her forehead and soon she had enveloped her arms around him. They were holding each other equally now. "Because right now I don't' know what's up from down and back from forth and where I stand in any of _this_."

Kate slowly leaned back from him and forced his eyes to meet hers. "I know that you are one of the better people on this island. I know that you deserve so much more then you ever give yourself credit for. I know that, you make me happy. I don't know if I deserve that happiness that you give me or not, but I do know that you are capable of bringing happiness to other people. And you are _not_ responsible for anybody who has died on this island Sawyer." She paused. "That, I know."

Both of them were crying now and Sawyer reached up and in one fluid motion caressed her cheek andkissedher passionately on the lips. Just as their lips parted he uttered two little words. "Thank you."

He gestured for Kate to stand up and he followed close behind her. He took her hand and led her away from the corpse, away from death, and towards the others. Maybe they would never be a part of the group of life givers. Maybe they would always be life takers. But, for now, they had the right to enjoy life and not focus entirely on death.

For now, they could be Rhett and Scarlett: together in spite of everything. They were survivors of war and famine and cruelty long past. They would, eventually, be forced to face their mistakes in the future. But for now, they just were.


	6. Uncle Rhett Reads a Story

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also borrowed a quote from "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell.

Notes: Major major fluff. Lots of cute Charlie moments too. ) I needed a pick me up after the last chapter. Spoilers for The Greater Good.

Summary: Sawyer and Kate have a fight. Sawyer finds a way to make Kate happy again.

"Uncle Rhett Reads a Story"

The solemn mood around the camp had disappeared and things were beginning to go back to normal. That is, however, as normal as things had been in the first place. Because when you throw 46 people on an island and force them to survive on the same beach drinking the same limited supply of water and eating fish and boar day in and day out, well, nothing was ever normal.

Sawyer was sitting at his camp, reading more of the novel which had essentially changed his life forever. Hell, he thought, if he'd known that reading a sappy chick book like Gone With the Wind would get him a hot new girlfriend he would have subjected himself to it a long time ago. He smirked at the thought and skimmed through the pages. He knew the story, he didn't have to read it. He just liked to indulge the fantasy of Kate in the role of Scarlett. That image alone had opened up his imagination to all kinds of new and fun fantasies.

Sawyer took off his reading glasses and closed his eyes. He imagined Freckles wearing one of those who fashioned Civil War style dresses with all the frills and an extremely low cut bust line.

Yep, this was the life.

"I'm afraid to ask, but, what are you thinking about?" Sawyer opened his eyes to find Kate standing over him. He wondered how she had managed to keep her pale complexion in all of this sunlight. Her freckles still shone through just enough to make his heart beat fast. The innocence of them combined with the small muscles she had developed were the perfect combination to showcase the person that Kate was. So fragile, yet so strong when she had to be. Sawyer couldn't take his eyes of her freckles though.

"Hey…" He heard her say. He snapped out of his trance. "I asked you a question." She sat down next to him, curling her legs in an Indian style pose.

He smiled his classic Sawyer smile and squinted his eyes. "Well, Freckles, what do you think I was thinking about?" He winked to emphasize his point.

She rolled her eyes in that way that made his stomach do a flip flop. A smile touched her face.

"So, not about the Shannon almost killing Locke earlier?" She offered up the information teasingly.

He leaned in towards her until he was inches from her face. "Believe me sweetheart, the mountain man was the last person on my mind." Their lips met for a short but sensual kiss. Suddenly, Kate sat back and looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. She seemed to be studying him. This made Sawyer rightly nervous. He hated people staring at him, especially when they had that kind of puzzles expression on their face.

_"What?" _He finally asked defensively. He couldn't look her in the eye, it was too nerve-wracking. He could not emphasize enough how much he _hated_ the way she was staring at him.

"Nothing." She replied in that tone of voice that made him want to tackle her to the ground. She dropped her stare and looked down at the sand underneath her. She began aimlessly playing with a few grains, obviously aware that this small action would annoy him all the more.

Sawyer was fuming. He wasn't angry. Not in the way that he usually got angry. But he felt exposed, and Sawyer hated feeling exposed. Somehow she had looked straight through him to the place that no one got to see. He'd shown her some of that place, but that had been on _his_ terms. No one ever got a look at the whole thing. Especially anyone that he liked so damn much.

She must have noticed the fact that he was in full on brood mode, because she spoke again. This time her voice took a whole different tone. "I was just…thinking." She was more hesitant in her choice of words and there was less teasing involved. Sawyer found the courage to look up at her for a few seconds.

"And?" He prompted her to continue. She moved her mouth, as if she was trying to form the words but could not speak them aloud.

"I was just thinking about you." She stopped to check his reaction. It hadn't changed, he was still brooding. "You know, um, never mind. Its not that big of a deal." She shook her head to emphasize the point.

Now he was angry. "What is it Freckles? What do you want to tell me? That I'm an asshole again? I've heard that one enough since we dropped on this damn island. You may as well join the crowd with the name callin."

She had lost him and she knew it. She became defensive and the anger showed on her face. "No, Sawyer, actually I wasn't going to call you anything." She stood to leave. "You know, you're so damn closed off that you can't even imagine anybody ever saying something nice about you! Sawyer, give it a break already. Haven't you been punished enough?"

And then she was gone. He hadn't had a chance to make a comeback. He had barely had a chance to do anything other then glare at her. "Dammit!" He shouted and hid himself in his shelter. Of course he would screw this up. He always screwed everything up for himself.

Damn her and to actually stand up to him and tell the truth. He sighed in anger and closed his eyes. Dammit if he didn't need a lady like her to set him straight. Dammit if he wasn't too stubborn to admit it. Just dammit. He cowered in his shelter and decided to sulk for a few minutes before deciding what to do next.

Unfortunately, his sulking session was brought to an early close when he heard a baby crying nearby. He tried to ignore it, turning over to face the other side. Maybe if he just pretended to be asleep it would go away and stop bothering him.

But then, another sound added to the mix of annoying sounds. "Sawyer?" It was the rock star. He could tell by that damn British accent. He gave in and sat up. He opened his eyes and squinted until he could get used to the sun again.

"Yea? Whattda…" He could hear the annoyance in her own voice and halted mid sentence. "…want?" He finished in a calmer more subtle tone. He noticed that the rock star was holding the baby, which was still crying loudly and annoyingly.

Charlie shifted the baby's position in his arms and almost fell over in the process. Sawyer smirked and shook his head. "Can I help you with somethan?"

Charlie seemed frightened and hesitant to speak, but finally found the courage to do so. "Yea, listen I noticed earlier that, um, well the baby seems to like you so I was just wonderin if you could help me out, quiet 'im down a bit?" He ended the request with a large rather dorky looking smile. Sawyer rolled his eyes.

"'Scuse me?" He said. He'd heard the guy, he just wanted to mess with him. He could use some entertainment about now.

Charlie laughed nervously. "Yea I know, I don't really get it either really. I mean, the baby actually _liking_ you, well, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself." Sawyer's smirk dropped to a scowl and Charlie looked as if he was ready to run away as fast as possible.

Sawyer sighed. He knew everyone hated him, he just hated hearing it out loud. Maybe Freckles was right. Even the damn rock star was terrified of him. "Yea, so what you want me to do is…" He began, hoping to actually discern what the rock star was actually doing here in the first place.

"Talk to the baby. Maybe, hold him." Charlie chanced. The baby was still upset, but had stopped screaming since they'd been here. Sawyer sat up and tried to figure out this situation. Finally he just scooted over, acting like it had taken all his energy to do so.

"Hand the little brat over." Charlie knelt down next to him and gently laid the newborn into his open arms. For a moment he just sat there looking at it. It was wrinkled and full of skin folds. Its head seemed to weigh more then its entire body. Its cheeks seemed to take up its entire face and it seemed to enjoy sticking its hands in its mouth. And, surprisingly even to Sawyer, it seemed to like to him. "So, uh, what do I do now?" He looked over at Charlie, who seemed to be enjoying the newfound quiet.

"Um, I don't know. Talk to 'im?" He paused. "Or you could sing. He likes rock music." Charlie smiled like a proud father. Sawyer gave him a look that said singing was not an option.

"Uh, hey kid." He said. The little ball of skin looked up at him with big blue eyes. He had to admit, this wasn't so bad. "How's life treatin ya so far?"

Sawyer wasn't sure what he was expecting. Of course the kid didn't answer him.

Lucky for him, the rock star came to the rescue. "Here, try reading him this." Charlie handed him a magazine. It wasn't Sawyers magazine. He knew this because he wouldn't be caught dead reading _Guitar Magazine. _

_"Get that piece of crap away from me." He ordered. Charlie put it down. "There." Sawyer pointed to the book he'd been reading earlier. "That one." Charlie picked it up and looked it over. _

"Gone with the Wind?" He paused to consider this. "You wanna read the baby a book about the bloody wind?" The question sounded even more idiotic in his British accent. Sawyer rolled his eyes.

"Just give me the damn book, will ya?" He paused. "And, just, shut up."

Charlie didn't seem to take offense. He was just grateful that the baby had stopped crying.

Sawyer managed to balance the baby against his chest with one hand and support him, while opening the book to a random page with the other hand. He then realized that the words in the book were blurry.

"Dam…" He began but stopped when he noticed the big blue eyes staring up at him. "Hey rock star, wanna get them there contraptions and give 'em to me?" He pointed towards the glasses which were sitting on the ground next to them. Charlie looked around and picked up the glasses with amusement.

"You mean these reading glasses?" He proclaimed loudly. Sawyer shook his head and sighed.

"Yes I mean the reading glasses!" He mocked the young British man. Charlie laughed slightly. Sawyer took the glasses from the young mans hand. "Wanna yell that louder so the rest of the island can hear 'ya?"

Charlie shrugged and smiled his elfish grin. Sawyer didn't notice this, as he was busy trying to hold the kid, the book, and get the glasses on his face. It wasn't working as well as he'd planned. Charlie noticed this.

"Want me to put them on for ya?" He offered. The way the words sounded in his British accent made Sawyer's head hurt.

"Hell no." Charlie had reached out to grab the glasses but Sawyer pulled back. "Touch me and these glasses go through you're eyes, you understand boy?" Charlie pulled back, but still found the whole situation more amusing then anything.

Admitting defeat, Sawyer dropped the book from his hands and let it fall to the ground. He put the glasses on his face and flashed a smart ass grin at Charlie, just to show him what was what. Charlie could barely contain his laughter both because of the grin and because of the new addition to Sawyers' face.

The baby had started to get anxious and was moving around a lot in his arms. He looked at it as if it was an alien child, something he had never seen before. He looked over at Charlie who was just waiting for what he would do next.

"Hey rock star, he ain't gonna start looking for a nipple is he?" He talked lower, as if he was embarrassed by the question. Charlie just shrugged.

"Bloody hell if I know. At least you can keep 'im from crying. That's more then I can do." He paused at the look of utter fear that crossed Sawyers face. "But he's not hungry. Already tried that a half hour ago."

He looked down at the bundle of skin in his arms and watched it smile at him. "Don't even think about kid, got it? I ain't your momma." The baby smiled at him and began to suck on its fingers. Sawyer seemed satisfied that the message had gotten through and reached for the book. He opened it to the first page and began to read.

"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarelton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother…"

As he read, Charlie made himself comfortable, his hands under his chin like a small child would sit. Sawyer didn't notice this, and if he had he would have had the compulsive desire to kick the rock stars ass. Moments flashed through his head as he read, moments of "what the hell am I doing?" and "I can't believe I'm acting like such a pansy". But mostly, he was enjoying the story he was reading and even somewhat enjoying the ball of skin in his arms.

Somewhere, in the middle of the second page, the baby began to fall asleep. Somewhere around the beginning of the third page, Sawyer looked up from the book. Not only was the baby asleep, but making herself at home right next to Charlie was Freckles. He looked at with question, and she smiled back at him. It was the same smile she gave when he did something that she found incredibly cute. He rolled his eyes at the whole situation and she giggled silently.

Suddenly, the baby began to stir in his arms and it whimpered.

"Don't stop." Charlie warned, as if the world would end if the baby let out another cry. Sawyer obliged and continued reading. What the hell? It's not like he had anywhere he had to be.

And Freckles was happy again.

If reading and holding a kid was all it took to see that smile, he could do that.


	7. Rhett, Scarlett, and the Raft

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: Sorry about the lack of updates! Work has kept me mighty busy lately. I promise I'll update more often!

Summary: Takes place during "Born To Run". Will the raft come between Sawyer and Kate?

"Rhett, Scarlett, and the Raft Between Them"

They had found a spot deep in the jungle, far away from where anyone would come to look for them. It was their place to get away from the other survivors, it was their place to be alone both with themselves and with each other. Since the last fight, they had grown closer then either of them could imagine. Sawyer found himself thinking about Kate more and more often. He found that he would go and look for her when she wasn't around, and that she would do the same for him. They seemed to have a constant need to know where the other was at all times, a need to be near each other. Sawyer was surprised to find that he was almost a slave to this need. As much as he hated all that sentimental crap, he found that his cravings to be near Freckles were too strong to resist. As much as he wanted to smack himself every time he kissed her in that extra gentle way, he found that this was the type of kiss that Kate brought out of him. It was a sweet kiss, gentle and dare he say loving?

Sawyer was in their special spot now, waiting for Kate to show up or not. They never really made plans to meet, either they did or they didn't. But they always knew where to find one another if they wanted to. Lately Sawyer had found himself getting more and more involved with the building of the raft. He wasn't exactly sure why he was so interested in being a part of it. Hell, he'd never been one for group activity or that all for one, one for all nonsense. Sawyer had always been a loner. But all of his instincts told him that this raft idea wasn't a bad one at that, that it might actually be their ticket off of that damn island. Sawyer wanted to make sure that his intentions were clear when it came to his ticket.

Sawyer looked down at his watch and sighed. She wasn't going to show up today. This wasn't unusual, but something told him that her reasons for not coming were not good ones. Sawyer stood up and headed back towards the beach. He found himself slightly pissy. This wasn't an unusual state for him of course, but today it was for the simple reason that he could sense that something was off. This made him walk quicker towards the beach. Sawyer despised drama and avoided it at all costs, but he always figured that if it was inevitable then it was best to get it done with so he could move on.

Back at the beach, he saw Jackie Chan working on the raft. The man was like a machine. He never took a break. Sawyer just found it funny most days. Sawyer went up to him and leaned against the base of the raft. The Asian man looked at him in annoyance. Sawyer smirked.

"Hey there Jackie Chan. You seen the boss man around lately?" Sawyer fiddled with a twig he had found in his pocket. His James Dean like stance against the raft didn't go unnoticed by Jin. When there was nothing but some Korean nonsense as an answer, Sawyer continued. "Yea yea I'm sure that means something real special there but I'm talking about the guy who's in charge of this boat." Sawyer was running out of charades and was getting more and more irritated. He paused and gestured to his wrist. "The guy who took your watch…" This seemed to spark something in Jin and he pointed over towards the other side of the beach. Sawyer followed his gesture and noticed not only the one he was looking for, but also Kate.

"Well well…what the hell does she have to talk to our skipper about?" Sawyer wondered out loud. Jin just shrugged, causing Sawyer to cast him a suspicious glance, and went back to his work. Sawyer dropped the twig he had been playing with and strode confidently up to where the two were talking. The closer he got, the more he realized that it was not necessarily a friendly conversation.

"Hey there campers. Why the long faces?" Sawyer grinned and intruded on their conversation. The skipper gave him a suspicious glare and then walked away. Kate remained next to him however. "Somethin' I said?" He cocked his head for emphasis.

Kate smiled, but something was off about her. "No, something I said." She replied and began heading the opposite direction of the raft. Sawyer followed her of course.

"Care to share the cliffs notes with my darlin? I always like a good spat." He had not caught up to her and was walking by her side. She didn't look at him though, just straight ahead.

"It's nothing for you to worry about Sawyer, really." Sawyer was put off by this comment. He hated when she was evasive with him.

"Didn't say I was worryin' sweetheart." He replied with a grin. "But seems to me that you've got a good brood going there. I'm sure you have your reasons, but considering you know all of my dirty secrets and I don't know jack about yours I think its only fair…" He stopped when she made a swift turn towards him. She was upset.

"Sawyer, why are you going on that raft?" It was direct and the point. Her words were filled with something else mixed with anger. He was taken aback by the question. They hadn't even talked about his going on the raft. He had assumed that she didn't even know about it.

"That what this is about? You gonna miss me, Freckles?" He stood in his confident stance. She shook her head, tears in her eyes. She was biting her lip, something she always did when she was upset. All at once Sawyer wondered how he knew that.

"Does it matter if I will?" She replied, not waiting for an answer. He was beginning to lose his confidence. "Sawyer, I need to go on that raft." They were both stopped now. They were standing, facing each other, in an unpopulated area of the beach. The surf was coming up behind them and the sun was beating down intensely. After a moment, Sawyer spoke again.

"OK. Care to explain to me why that is darlin'?" He was serious this time. He felt it all the way through him. He knew that she was serious too. He knew that desperate look that was in her eyes well. He was ready to listen.

She looked back and forth, double checking that they were, in fact, alone. She shook her head and bit her lip again. "Sawyer you know that I've done some things in my past that aren't going to fly once we get of this island. You know that I was in handcuffs when the plane crashed. You know why. Don't pretend you don't." She peeked up at him through her eyelashes. He was looking intently at her. He knew what she was talking about, mainly through his own scavenging and his ability to read people. She hadn't told him crap on her own.

"Yea. You're no saint." He raised his arms out for emphasis. "Hell if I am Freckles. So what's your point here?"

She stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked at him with eyes that nearly made him melt. He hated when she looked at him like that. "I need that spot on the raft Sawyer. It's my only chance."

He stood back and considered this a moment. He considered what she was asking him and what he would be giving up. He looked out into the ocean, watching the waves crash against the shoreline. Out into the abyss. Who knew what was out there? Who knew what would happen to that raft and the people on it? He forced himself to look back at her. She was standing there like a lost pup. She was shivering slightly from the incoming ocean breeze. He walked slowly over to her until he was inches from her face. She seemed so alone and so cold. He reached out one hand and place it on the back of her head, gently pulling her against his chest. She didn't resist, but didn't embrace him either. They continued to stand like that as he spoke.

"I can't do that. I can't let you go on that raft." His words were a mere whisper. It pained him to even say them. Part of him felt like he was denying her the one thing she had ever asked him for. It hurt him in a way Sawyer hadn't been hurt in a very long time. He felt her tense up against him. He felt her pull away.

She pulled back, still standing close to him. She nodded, as if telling herself that this was the end. Then she looked up at him. She wasn't angry, she was hurt. It tore him apart.

"Why?" It came out in a hoarse whisper. She had tears brimming on her eyes. He just looked at her, trying to keep his emotions away. Damn if this girl didn't tear him apart from the inside out. He felt an immediate need to fix this.

He moved to touch her but she quickly pulled away from him. "You're not going to prison Kate." He said loudly and in anger. "I won't let it happen. But this isn't the way…"

"And how are you going to do that Sawyer?" She shouted back at him. It was good that they were far away from the others, thought Sawyer. This wasn't an argument to have in public. "Hell, _why_ would you do that?"

He was at a loss for words. Truth was, he had no idea how he was going to save her. But he would save her. He would never forgive himself if he didn't. Sawyer felt himself giving in to the feelings inside of him. He recognized the feeling of need, something he hadn't let himself recognize since he was eight years old. He knew that he had to tell her why.

"Kate…" He tried to put his arms around her but she moved out of his grasp.

"No. There's no point is there? I'm a murderer Sawyer." She paused. "And I deserve whatever it is that happens to me. You're right, I deserve to go to prison. There's no point in fighting it anymore."

She had started to walk down the beach, away from him. At first he stood there, watching her walk away. He felt himself stuck to the sand under his feet. He felt himself pushing her away from him, because being with her hurt so damn much.

But hell, Sawyer was a masochist. As far as he was concerned he deserved every second of pain he got. So he ran after her. He ran until he was in front of her and she had to stop.

"Sawyer…" She began. He shut her up immediately with a kiss. It lasted a long time and it was what they both needed. It was familiar and a reminder of the better moments on the island, before they had to worry about the rest of the world. And when they finally pulled back their foreheads still touched, keeping them connected.

"Forgive me Kate, but I can't give you that spot. Because whoever is on that raft might just die out there. I will find a way to make sure that you get off this island without any problems. I know that people don't tend to trust me none, and they're probably wise in not doing so, but I'm asking you to trust me now."

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She moved in for another kiss, stopping only to whisper the three words Sawyer had been longing to hear from anybody for so long.

"I trust you."


	8. Scarlett Loves RhettIn Her Own Way

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: Thank you so much for all of your reviews. It really means a lot to me that you think I'm a good writer. Its definitely a passion of mine.

Summary: Sawyer gets poisoned and Kate tries to keep him from leaving on the raft.

Scarlett Loves Rhett: In her own way

The raft was just about built, and Kate was getting more and more antsy by the day. Sawyer would watch her fiddle with her fingers and constantly look around her, as if someone or something was out to get her. Seeing Kate this way made Sawyer even more nervous then he already was. Sawyer wasn't usually the nervous kind, he tended to stay out of conflicts that weren't his own and was focused mainly on himself and his own worries. But, then again, nothing about him had been the same since Kate had come into his life.

Sawyer was taking a break from the raft, and taking a swing from his water bottle, when it happened. At first he thought the pain might just be caused by his regular diet of mangos, bananas, and the occasional fish. Hell, what kind of man could really survive on that kind of diet anyway? He coughed and put down his water bottle. But the pain continued to grow. It became more and more sharp and torturous with every second. He gripped his stomach and laid down on the sand.

"Goddamn!" He cursed loudly. It was getting worse. Now it hurt constantly. He turned onto his side just in time to vomit up the water that he had just drank. "Dammit!" He said even louder. Soon Sun was there, asking him what was wrong. "Somethins' trying to eat its way outta me, that's what's wrong." His face was contoured in pain and he felt his eyes tearing up. He wasn't crying of course, Sawyer never cried.

Sun ordered Hurley to run and get the doctor. By now there was a large crowd hovering around him. They were all watching, both in concern and satisfaction that the criminal was finally getting what he deserved. Sawyer thought it was funny but he wasn't quite in the mood to laugh at the moment. "Enjoyin' the show?" He asked with s cocky grin. The others just shook their heads, as if his comment was completely preposterous.

"Sawyer…" Then the doctor was there. "What hurts?" He asked, all medical like. Sawyer found this funny too and smirked through his pain.

"Hey there Doc…" He paused to breath. "Just ate somethan' bad I guess." The doctor seemed concerned. This wasn't new so Sawyer didn't start to worry just yet. He felt around his stomach, and it hurt like hell.

"Ah Dammit!" He screamed out in pain as the doctor found the spot that was killing him.

"What did you eat today?" The doctor asked. Sawyer thought back and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity of having to think so hard. It was an easy question.

"Pancakes and grits. Hell, what do you think I ate doc? A couple of grapefruit and a banana, the usual around here." He closed his eyes. "Sure as hell feels like I'm dying here Doc, you gonna fix me or what?" The doctor seemed to consider this a moment. Sawyer rolled his eyes in annoyance and stopped when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

It was Kate. She was standing on the side of the crowd, watching and worrying. He could see the fear in her eyes. He could see her watching him as he watched her. She knew he was looking at her. She had tears in her eyes and more then anything he wanted to go over and make everything ok for her. But, hell, he may very well have been dying right there. He wanted her to come to him this time, but she wouldn't. Just like she never did. He tried to convey his need through this eyes, and she saw it. She saw it and turned away, just as he'd expected her to do.

"Sawyer?" The doc was talking to him. He considered keeping his gaze in Kate's direction, ignoring the doctor, just to make him squirm a bit but then he realized that his life was technically in this man's hands. Only a fool would mock the person who's saving his life.

A fool or a masochist that is.

"Yea Doc I'm here." He finally replied. "Ain't dead yet." The pain was dying down a bit now. He closed his eyes.

"Did you drink out of this water bottle?" The doc held up the bottle lying next to Sawyer. Sawyer took one look at it and nodded.

"Yep." He paused. His voice was weak, not strong and steady like usual. "Why? Someone try to poison me?"

The doc said nothing. And Sawyer knew he was right. He got an interesting look on his face, one that no one could really read. It was a look of knowledge. He nodded in response to his own thoughts. So he'd been poisoned. Strangely, he was able to accept this with little shock. He looked back up at the doc and wiped some of the sweat off his forehead. "So, you want a list of all of my enemies? It might take awhile."

The doc smiled slightly at the comment. Sawyer could tell that even the doctor didn't care so much about who did this. It would have been different if it were one of the others, someone everyone actually liked. But he was just an asshole and everyone pretty much agreed on that. And no one would be so stupid as to poison everyone's worst enemy because everyone would be a suspect. Then whatever revenge the culprit was trying to take would be easily looked over and unacknowledged. The doc knew that, as did Sawyer. As much sense as it made to poison the asshole of the camp, it also made no sense at all.

"Here." The doc handed him a drink he'd concocted. "It'll settle your stomach." Sawyer took the drink in his hands and, after casting a suspicious look towards the doctor, took a sip.

"Ah, tastes like piss and crap mixed together." He put the drink down. "You sure _your_ not trying to poison me here doc?" Jack stood up and moved to leave. "Hey! You got malpractice insurance right, just in case this stuff kills me?" He enjoyed the irritation that crossed over the docs face as he left.

Now he was all alone, lying there on the ground, pondering what had just happened. He knew he wasn't dying. He'd known that from the get go. No one would be stupid enough to kill him, not when he was about to sail away on the raft anyway. And now the doc and the Iraqi had a fun little mystery to try and solve. Hell, at least it would keep their minds off of him anyway. He struggled to sit up and barely made it before buckling down in pain again. Hell, whoever had given him this stuff sure knew how to put a man down for a day. This was worse then eating too many damn coconuts.

He looked around, but saw no sign of Kate. He wasn't surprised. He knew she was bad with situations like this. This is how he knew she cared about him. Funny how he didn't care about her complete and utter disregard for his well-being. Most guys would just assume she was a cold-hearted bitch and be done with her. Unfortunately, Sawyer knew what it was like not to be capable of caring for another person. He knew that when you've never been given a chance to learn about loving a fellow human being it was difficult to just start from scratch and know exactly what to do and how to react. Hell, he and Kate had been for the most part together for the last month and he still didn't know how to say the words he wanted to say to her. His mind knew that he felt something for her, but he was completely incapable of saying any of it out loud or barely even showing it. He just knew that he felt an incredible need to be near her and to touch her and kiss her. It was different then with any other woman.

He had decided awhile ago that he wasn't going to be stupid and push her away just because he didn't want to deal with it. The funny thing was, for the first time ever, he _did_ want to deal with it. He felt like he needed to deal with her bad habits and sorted past in order to be happy himself. It was an odd conclusion to come to, but it was his decision. And hell, even if he stuck to his old philosophy of 'the more pain the better' she still fit into his life perfectly.

But ever since their confrontation on the beach, Kate had not been herself. She was extremely nervous and constantly looking over her shoulder. When they'd met in the woods, at their special spot, she had been paranoid of somebody following them and finding out about them. The only people who knew were Charlie and Claire, and they weren't going to say anything to anyone. Kate preferred it that way, Sawyer didn't really care either way. He understood where she was coming from. The only thing he couldn't stand was when she went along with the doctors flirtations. He was a jealous man, he could admit that. The doctor was his main competition here and he had to admit that the man was what every woman wanted. Kate had made it clear that it was Sawyer that she wanted, she made it clear every time they were alone together. Sawyer smiled at the thought. Yea, she liked him. He could tell that much. He also knew that one of the main reasons she followed him around and found him wherever he was was that she felt safe with him. It had been that way from the beginning, even before they had first kissed. He liked that he could make her feel that, it made him feel good inside.

Leisurely, he sat back in this shelter and put his arms behind his head. He stared out into the ocean for awhile just watching the waves roll by. He watched a few people walk past him, all of them either giving him a dirty look or pretending not to see him at all. Hell, he was used to it. He just grinned mockingly at them as they walked by. No one seemed to care that he'd been poisoned. Even the doc and Muhammad, who were currently investigating the matter, seemed to dread the fact that they had to do something nice for him. But none of this bothered Sawyer. The only thing that was bothering him at that particular moment was that Freckles wasn't anywhere to be seen. He wasn't stupid. He knew that when she wanted him to find her she would show up. She always did. But still, the urge to know her location was very strong and hard to ignore.

So Sawyer decided to read a book, hoping it would clear his mind.

And it did much more then that. Sawyer closed the book and smiled mischievously. Of course, it had been in front of him all along. He knew who his poisoner was. He struggled to get up to go find the person who'd done it and teach them a lesson, but before he could go anywhere he saw her.

"Hey." She said simply. Her arms were folded over her chest. Her hair was flying with the wind but most of it stayed back in the holder she used. She had a worried expression on her face.

"Well hey there Freckles. Long time no see." He patted the sand next to him. She hesitated before taking the offer though. "What's the matter, feeling a little guilty are we?" She frowned and looked down. A moment later she looked back up at him.

"How'd you know?" Neither of them looked particularly upset. Any bystander watching the conversation would have thought they were talking about the weather or a good book or anything other then one of them trying to poison the other.

He shrugged. "Well now, anyone else would have killed me. You're the only softy here who likes me enough to give me a couple of stomach cramps and be done with it." She smiled and laughed silently. "You know its safe to sit down. I promise I won't kill ya." He gave a suspicious smile. She rolled her eyes and obliged.

She hesitantly looked over at him. "Are you mad?" He kept eye contact with her the whole time, trying to gauge her emotional stance.

"Na. You'd be surprised how many women I've known who've wanted to poison me." He paused. "You're just the only one who had the guts to go through with it."

She smiled. "I bet." A serious look came over her face. "Sawyer…" She began.

"Stop right there peaches." He paused. "I'm still going on the raft." They both looked out into the ocean, deep in thought and feeling. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Yea. I know." She sighed. "I just wish you wouldn't." He looked over at her. The emotion in her words silently touched him. She did care about him. He saw it.

"You like me. You really like me." He mocked her. She rolled her eyes.

"OK fine…." She said to make him stop. Their eyes met and they both smiled sincerely. "I like you Sawyer. I don't want you to get hurt or…anything" He snaked his hand along side of him until he had her fingers entwined in his. Their hands were hidden between them, like a secret.

"Come on now, don't get all sappy on me." He paused. "You know Scarlett didn't give a rats ass what happened to Rhett when he went to war." She smiled.

"Well that's because she was in love with Ashley." She said pointedly. Sawyer winced playfully.

"Ouch." He said. She playfully hit him on the arm, and then hung herself off of it, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Just, don't die ok?" He looked at her head, resting against him, and breathed deeply. For once in his life he had something to live for. For once it mattered whether he lived or died. Suddenly, he wished he didn't have to leave her. Suddenly, he became afraid for his own life. This was a first for Sawyer. He leaned his head against the top of hers and enjoyed the feeling of her hair against his cheek.

"I won't." He looked out into the ocean and watched the waves as far as they would go. He looked out into the horizon, the place he would be heading out to in just a few days. As much as he hated this island, he had no reason to leave it anymore. He didn't care if they were every rescued at that moment. All he cared about was this person sitting next to him.

And they sat together and watched as the sun set on camp. And later, when Jack came to Sawyer and asked if he had any idea who could have poisoned him, Sawyer shrugged.

"Sorry Doc." He said. "Can't think of nobody. Don't rightly matter anymore though does it?" And Jack had been shocked at his lack of concern and anger, but Sawyer knew the truth.

Being poisoned was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for him.


	9. Rhett and Scarlett In Love and War

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it.

Notes: Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm sorry that its been so long since the last update, life just gets in the way sometimes. I know this chapter is short, but the next one will be a longer one.

Summary: Sawyer and Kate learn of a new threat and Sawyer must make a decision.

"Rhett and Scarlett: In Love and War"

He stumbled back to his shelter, sweat dripping from his hair and soaking through his shirt. He was spending more and more time putting together the raft that would carry him away from the island. It was near finished and there was talk that it would be launched within a day or two. Sawyer had taken this all in stride, since everyone had been saying the same thing for a week and a half now. In a way, it wasn't real for him yet. In a way, this craft that he was helping to build every day was just something that would never really come to be, just a way to keep them all occupied for awhile.

Part of him wished that this was true. This was the part of him that had started sleeping next to Freckles every night, the part that had begun to socialize more with the rest of the group just because she'd asked him too, the part that smiled whenever she smiled at him in just the right way.

As he neared his shelter he was happy to see that Kate was there waiting for him. Well, maybe she was just snooping through his stuff as usual but he liked to think that she came there just for him. When she saw him approaching she smiled and stood up to meet him. He put on his cocky grin, the one that everyone seemed to hate but her, and walked quicker to get there.

"Hey." She smiled, hands on her hips. Yea, she'd been snooping. He knew the look of guilt that was showing on her face, he'd seen it plenty of times before.

"Hey there Freckles." He stopped when he got there and took off his shirt. But he didn't _just_ take off his shirt. He had to make a show of it, slowly lifting it off of his body and pulling it over his head. When it was finally off he tossed it down in the sand and pushed his hair back sensually. When he looked back at her she was smiling and shaking her head.

"Not bad." She said with sarcasm. He stepped forward until he was right in front of her.

"That all you got to say?" He put his hands on her hips and moved his fingers to the ticklish place on her stomach. She giggled and tried to move away but he playfully held her in place until she was kicking the air trying to get away from him.

"Sawyer!" She screamed out.

"Sawyer _what?_" He prompted her. By now he was swinging her in the air. She continued to giggle.

"Sawyer stop!" She screamed again. He knew she'd never give in. She was too stubborn. Finally he put her down and in the same motion pulled her down into the sand with him. She continued to giggle and situate herself in the sand until she was on her back. He laid on his side and leaned his head on his hand, looking down at her. She looked up at him with bright hazel eyes and smiled. Damn if this girl didn't make him into such a sap.

"Kate?" Said a voice that was neither of theirs. He watched Kate's eyes shift upwards and he turned his head in time to see the good old doctor standing over them. He knew this made Kate uncomfortable. Since they both lived on the beach very few people had caught on to their little romance. Sawyer thought it was probably better that way. But it seemed that their little romp just then had stirred up some attention, mainly the doc's.

"Well hey there Doc. Long time no see." Sawyer smirked at him. He had to admit that he really didn't like the guy. It was just these types of guys that always put Sawyer in his place, or at least where they _thought_ his place was. They could never seem to just leave him be. They always wanted to save people from him and this irritated the hell out of him.

Of course the doc seemed concerned as usual. The guy never smiled, at least not that Sawyer had seen.

"Everything ok here Kate?" The doc ignored him and turned his attention to Kate. She quickly moved to a sitting position and wiped the sand off of herself.

"Everything's fine Jack." She replied. She glanced over at Sawyer and he rolled his eyes at her. She smiled which gave him permission to speak his mind a bit.

"Don't worry Doc, just a little playful banter between _friends._" He emphasized the word so as to irritate the man. By the look on Jack's face he knew the truth, and Sawyer intended to brag about his victory as much as possible. "So seein' as there's no life savin' needed here maybe you outta make your way back up to the caves to play hero."

He looked over at Kate, who was currently shaking her head in annoyance. He knew she hated when he fought with the doc, especially when it was over her. Sawyer just couldn't help himself, for once he'd gotten the girl and he wasn't going to keep it to himself if he didn't have to.

"Yea Sawyer, listen some of the others are just wondering how much longer it'll be before the raft gets launched. Has Michael said anything to you about it?" It clearly pained Jack to make any sort of civilized conversation with Sawyer. Sawyer smiled.

"Oh you know the skipper, he wants off this island bad. I'd imagine as soon as that boat is sea ready we'll be off and out of your hair." He paused and looked over at Kate. She was looking down at the sand and lacing her fingers through it. He knew the topic of the raft always made her shut down a bit. She didn't want him to go and she didn't want to be rescued.

"Great." Jack said, scorn in his voice. "I'll let everyone know." He moved to take off down the beach. Sawyer turned back to Kate. She was lost in her own thoughts now. On instinct he reached out and pushed a curl away from her eyes. This woke her up and she looked up at him. She smiled, but it was a sad smile. He smiled back in the same manner. There was nothing else to talk about really. They'd said it all. Neither of them wanted to be separated, but they had no choice in the matter. Now they were just trying to make the best of the time they had together on the island.

Breaking the sorrowful mood, Sawyer leaned forward and kissed Kate deeply on the lips. She was hesitant at first, being that there were a lot of people around them, but soon gave into the impulse and kissed him back. Their kiss lasted minutes and when it ended he made sure his lips barely left hers.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." He smirked. This was not an announcement but rather an invitation. She understood immediately and nodded just barely enough to be noticeable.

He stood up and leaned his arm down to help her up. She took it and wiped her backside off as best she could. Sawyer admired her assets as she did so, earning an eye roll from Kate. He was about to turn and head off towards the waterfall when he noticed something different in Kate's eyes. The usual playfulness was gone and she was worried, frightened even. She was looking not at him but behind him.

"Freckles?" He asked, worried. She didn't respond, she just continued to look behind him. Slowly and hesitantly he turned around.

There, in the middle of _their_ beach and _their_ camp, was who he presumed was the infamous French woman. "Ah hell." Without another word he reached behind him and held out his hand, which Kate took immediately. They just stood there at first, frozen as to what to do next. He wasn't sure what kind of danger this woman posed to them, but he knew that he didn't like her being here at all. They watched as Sayid was the first to approach her. Sawyer had heard that the two had some sort of torture bond or whatever. He figured the Iraqi knew what he was doing in approaching her.

Slowly, hesitantly, the rest of the group approached her. Sawyer followed, pulling Kate along behind him. He kept his hand tightly gripped on hers, vowing to protect the one thing that mattered to him on this damn island.

The woman spoke for what seemed like forever. They all huddled around her, listening to her story. She spoke about how she'd gotten stranded here and how the rest of her team had gotten sick and died. Through it all Sawyer kept quiet, unlike his usual self. He still didn't know what to think of this woman and he didn't know what her intentions were for them. He did know that she was talking about a lot of pain and a lot of death, something he wasn't prepared to mess with. And then there were her last words, the words that echoed in his ears like the gunshots he'd heard when he was eight years old.

_You have only three choices. Run. Hide. Or Die. _

_And that was it. Sayid stayed with her while the rest of the group dispersed. Sawyer looked over at Kate, who was trying her best to keep pretending not to be afraid. She had let go of his hand but he'd made sure she hadn't moved from her place behind him. _

"Come on." He said simply, taking one last look at the French woman. He started towards the shelter. Somehow it felt like the place to go.

"No." Kate replied. She wasn't complying this time. He turned and gave her a look of exasperation.

"Freckles…" He began, but she interrupted him.

"I'm gonna go find out what's going on." She laced her fingers through his for a moment, giving him a look of apology, and headed on down the beach.

"Dammit Freckles!" He said loudly, but not directed at her. Of course she had to go find out all the facts, that was just how she was. He should know that by now. He also knew that she was going straight to the doc to get the information. This made his blood boil. Even with this knowledge, though, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. He was too damn pissed at the French woman right now. He was pissed at the doc and the Iraqi and these people who were supposedly going to come and kill them all.

Sawyer went back to his shelter and pulled out his knapsack. He fished through it and was satisfied when he felt the feeling of cold steel in his hands. His gun. He'd taken it back when they'd first landed here, knowing that eventually it would come in handy. He opened the bullet chamber and counted the bullets. There were three left.

He sighed and shook his head. That would have to be enough then. Kate was the priority here.

"Hey Sawyer!" It was the skipper. Sawyer dropped the gun back in the bag unnoticed. "You coming on the raft or what?"

"Ain't you heard about our impending doom captain?" Sawyer said with sarcasm. Michael shielded his eyes from the sun and looked down at Sawyer, not at all intimidated by his words.

"Doesn't change anything. We can finish the raft in an hour. Then we launch, with or without you."

Michael walked away, leaving Sawyer to curse the world and everything in it except for one person.


	10. Rhett Loses Scarlett

Disclaimer: I do not own Sawyer or any of the characters in Lost.

Notes: This chapter was as much a surprise to me as it might be to you. I can't explain these things, I see a blank page and they just come pouring out. There are a few things left unexplained here, but fear not, they will be explained in the next chapter.

Summary: Kate goes missing. Sawyer goes to look for her.

"Rhett Loses Scarlett"

Three.

One. Two. Three.

Wait…no still three.

This is what was going through Sawyers head as he sat at his shelter, waiting for something to happen. It seemed like this was always how it went. Freckles would go off and do her thing with everyone else, and he would wait behind and _see what happened._ The Skipper and Mr. Miagi would fiddle around with their boat talk, how Sawyer just couldn't figure considering Mr. Miagi didn't speak a word of damn English. Nor could he figure why he was always the one who was left sitting by himself, reading or just waiting for the next interesting thing to happen.

And now he was doing it again. _Dammit._ Truth was, he didn't want to go kill time with the skipper. If he went over there he would have to give him the answer he knew he'd have to give. It had been an hour and, due to some technical errors, the boat had not been finished yet. Sawyer had to laugh at the skippers anger at the situation. Sure, he could help. But clearly he was in no hurry to get off of the island.

Even if there _were_ evil headhunters coming to attack them.

This was the last thing he'd heard via the ever turning rumor mill on the island. He somewhat doubted this theory, but he didn't doubt that there was something to the French chicks warnings. Sure, she was crazy as a loon, but that didn't mean that she wasn't right. Hell, Sawyer knew people. He knew that whenever possible they found it appealing to attack each other, whether it was to chop some heads or just take some lives.

Three. It went through his mind again.

"Dammit!" He shouted and dropped the gun back into the bag again. He tried to look away, but found himself looking back again. Because he knew that there were more bullets in that gun when he'd last looked. He knew it had been fully loaded. Sure, he'd shot that polar bear that one time. But there should still be four shots left, shouldn't there?

And then he emptied the gun out in his hand.

"Oh hell no!" He grabbed the gun and stuffed it his pants, letting his shirt fall down to hide its existence. He then walked with determination over to where he knew he would find the person he was looking for.

He found him at the caves, as expected.

"Hey Doc!" He shouted. The man was standing there talking to the Iraqi. Kate was no where to be found and who knew when those crazies were gonna come and chop some heads off. He needed to see Kate. He needed to say goodbye before it was time to leave for good. But first he needed to do this."Yea I'm talkin' to you." He said in anger. He had suddenly realized that he had reason to be deeply angry with this person.

The Iraqi stood tall and walked in front of the Doc, as if defending him. Sawyer had to laugh, but it was not a happy sound when he did. "Oh that's cute, protecting him like a good little soldier are ya Muhammad?" The Iraqi was ready to hit him. "Go ahead! Try it! I dare ya!" He held his hands out as if in submission.

"Leave him alone Sayid." The hero said from behind him. The Doc stepped up to him and Sawyer responded similarly. "What do you want Sawyer?"

Sawyer found himself breathing heavily, trying to keep calm. "I have a question to ask you Doctor. Know anything about guns?" He tilted his head to the side, waiting for the man to back down and confess. Instead, he got nothing but a look of confusion.

Jack turned away from him and shook his head. "I don't know you're talking about Sawyer." He paused and turned to look at him. "You know what? I don't think I want to either." He raised his hands in defeat and tried to walk away. Sawyer couldn't handle this. This man had to know what he was talking about, he just wouldn't admit to it.

So, he tackled him. He got a few good punches of his own in before being pulled away from him by a load of arms. Jack, apparently not being as peace loving as he seemed, was also be held back from hitting Sawyer.

"Let go of me!" He threatened the people holding him back. They eventually dropped their grasp on him. Sawyer was beaten and worn. His eye was developing a nasty bruise and he felt that his cheek was swollen as well. "Wanna hit me do ya Doc?" He gestured with his hands. "Well do it! Don't wuss out like you always do."

Jack was let go as well and now both men, calm as possible, were staring each other down in an animal like manner. Jack waved his arms in defeat.

"You're not worth it. We're about to be attacked here Sawyer, we could all die any minute now." He stopped to catch his breath. Sawyer listened. "Look Sawyer if there's something you think I did to you to piss you off or whatever just tell me what it is." He leaned himself on his knees and looked up at him. Sawyer looked back, pushing his hair back with his hand. He took a breath and forced himself to calm down. Freckles would tell him to handle this rationally, if she were here.

Where the hell was she anyway?

"Where's Kate?" He asked simply. Jack smiled and shook his head.

"Got me man. I thought she was with you. She took off about an hour ago. Headed into the jungle saying she needed to talk to you. I tried to stop her but, well you know Kate, there's no stopping her when she's determined to do something." He said the words with scorn and Sawyer knew what he was talking about. This made his angry all over again.

"Well you son of a…" He began and charged into the cave that Jack occupied. He knew Jack would follow him and the man was there in a flash, trying to pry Sawyer out of the cave. Sawyer grabbed everything he could find that could be useful: a flashlight, some extra food left over from breakfast, a pack to put the supplies in, and finally the briefcase which he knew held the remaining guns.

"Hey! What do you think your doing in here?" Jack demanded. When Sawyer felt the man grab his arm he pushed him away and against the cave wall. He held him in place and finally had the advantage in this battle.

"Look Doc, I ain't got time to play this game right now alright? Because of you she's out there by herself! In a jungle full of monsters and polar bears and some freaks who will do who knows what to her! Now are you gonna help me find her or are you gonna preach to me about manners?"

Jack backed off. Sawyer could see the relent in his eyes and moved back from his advantage point. He sniffed back whatever it was that was making his nose run and blinked his eyes a moment. Without looking back at Jack, he spoke. "Where's the key?"

"Sawyer…" Jack began. Sawyer turned on him again but this time it was not anger that caused him to do so, mainly fear.

"Dammit Jack open the damn case or …" He paused, trying to contain himself. "She needs us. She needed _me_ and I let her down. If you give one rats ass about that woman you will open that goddamned case and do it fast."

Jack did what he said with no resistance this time. Sawyer was glad, because if the man had resisted once more he knew he would have had to club him in the head and take the key on his own accord. Despite the fact that he would immensely enjoy torturing the man, he needed him to help him look for Kate.

Sawyer took out a gun and opened the chamber. He poured the bullets into his hand and examined them. He nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go."

He stood up and closed the chamber of the gun. He slid it into his front pocket this time, unafraid of anybody seeing it. Jack followed him, standing up silently. He was unaware of the power he had just gained for himself. He was only aware that she was lost and needed to be found as fast as possible.

When they stepped out of the cave he noticed a large group of people watching them and rolled his eyes.

"Alright people we're gonna organize a little search party if you will." He paused and looked at his options. "You, Iraqi," He pointed to Sayid. "Take fat boy with you and head north." He noticed John Locke standing in the background of everyone. "You, mountain man, find a buddy and go south." He pointed to Shannon, who was standing rigidly behind the fat guy. "You, go to the beach tell everyone that Kate is missing and ask if they've seen her since this morning." He paused to think further about this and then decided his decisions were accurate enough. No one raised a word of question. "Doc and I will head out east."

And just when he was about to turn and leave a voice interrupted them. "Hey Jack…" He turned to see the Skipper standing there, eyeing him suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Kate's missing." Jack said confidently. He gestured to Sawyer. "We're going to look for her."

The man seemed confused so Sawyer had to fill him in. "Listen Skipper, we're kind of on a little time limit here so either join the fun or run back down to your ship alright?"

"That's what I came to tell you." The man glared at him and moved to address the whole group. "The raft is ready to sail. We can leave soon."

"Good. Great. Swell. Now can we get looking'?" Sawyer demanded. Michael approached him with an angry stare.

"Not if we're gonna get leavin'" He mocked Sawyer's words, and this pissed Sawyer off more then anything. He chose to ignore this however, having more important things on his mind. Sawyer glared at him with a stare that could kill a small rodent. He turned to the doctor and gestured to the jungle.

"Let's go." He started towards the jungle.

"Wait a minute here!" Michael jumped in, once again keeping Sawyer from his search. "We need help pushing the raft out into the water. We need man power."

One by one people began moving towards Michael, towards the beach. Sawyer couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I'm sorry but didn't I just tell ya'll to get searchin'?" He shouted loudly. Jack seemed hesitant, standing between Sawyer and the others. Sawyer was raging mad. He couldn't believe that this was happening. And when Michael came face to face with him, it enraged him all the more.

"Look man, this is our chance to be rescued. Kate's a good tracker, she'll find her way back. This raft is our only chance of survival." Sawyer could see that he was trying hard to explain the reasons to him. He could see that this crowd was genuine in their loyalties to themselves alone. He shook his head.

"Alright, I see how this goes." He snorted. "Never mind that she'd go searchin' for any of ya'll if you went missin'. Just go ahead! Go play with your little tugboat!" He gestured to the beach warily, almost in defeat, and turned towards the jungle.

"Hey Sawyer!" He turned one last time to see Michael standing there shouting at him. "I thought you wanted a place on the raft! Well it leaves in a few minutes."

Sawyer rolled his eyes. What a stupid thing, that raft. He wondered why he'd ever cared so much about it.

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" He smiled that cocky smile that everyone hated and marched off into the jungle, a lone man on a quest to find a lone woman.


	11. Rhett & Ashley Common Interests

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also do not own Rhett Butler or Scarlett O'Hera.

Notes: This chapter is a bit brief. But the next one will wrap up the story a bit. I apologize for all the Jack/Sawyer banter. I couldn't help myself, I just think its fun to make them fight.

Summary: Sawyer looks for Kate and finds help along the way.

"Rhett and Ashley: Common Interests"

He walked in the jungle, quickly and with a purpose. Sawyer was furious, crashing through tree branches and shrubs as if they were made of cotton. He was determined. And he had decided that he was going to use that gun, one way or the other.

If he found her, he would kill anyone who had laid a hand on her.

If he didn't find her, he would kill anyone who had refused to look for her.

"Sawyer!" He heard someone shouting from behind. He ignored it and continued on in the same way.

"You best turn around right now Doc." He responded through his teeth. Sawyer was angry. He was even more angry then he had been on the day his parents had died. He had never thought he could be angrier then he was that day. But, then again, he had never thought he could love again either. She'd changed that and all she had asked was for him to stay with her instead of going on that damn raft! He couldn't stop blaming himself for that.

"Sawyer!" The Doc yelled again and eventually managed to catch up with him. Sawyer gave an angry sigh and continue walking. "Sawyer, I'm here to look for Kate."

He slowed down, but he didn't stop.

"You wanna look then look. But don't expect to be getting no hero credit for this one, Doc. No one gives a damn." He was slightly out of breath but he meant what he said. If this was the Doc's way of adding another medal to his collection then hell if he was gonna stop him. Hell, as long as Kate was found it didn't matter who did the finding. Sure, it would hurt his ego a bit for the Doc to find _his_ Freckles, but at this point all that mattered to him was that she came out of this safe. As much as he hated the guy, the fact that they both cared about the same woman meant that he was the only person he could trust with keeping her safe.

"I'm doing this for Kate, Sawyer." The Doc reiterated. This was not helping Sawyers mood one bit. To have his worst enemy by his side at a time when he needed to be focused was probably the worst idea he'd ever devised. He silently cursed himself for ever requesting the doctors help in the first place.

He shook his head. "My last nerve Doc and you're getting' on it." He mumbled.

"Like it or not Sawyer we need to communicate here. Otherwise we're not going to find her." The Doc said, trying to be his rational self. Sawyer was just annoyed by this obvious fact. So he stopped, just for a second, to have a little communication with the man.

"Alright Doc. How's about we communicate right now huh? You go that way over there and I'll go this way over here. I'll see ya after I find Kate." He indicated the appropriate direction and turned to continue on his way.

"I meant communicate about what you plan to do with that gun."

He stopped in his tracks. He cocked his head and turned around to face the man.

"Is there a question in there somewhere Doc? Cause if you don't mind I'm on a little time limit here, Kate's life being at stake and all." He spoke with bitterness. Jack approached him and stopped just a foot away.

"Well I was just wondering if there was something wrong with that gun in your back pocket. Otherwise, I really don't see the reason why you need two guns." Sawyer looked down and realized that his shirt was riding up and more then just his stomach was showing. And he had it. That was it. Either this man stepped away or he was going to have to push him out of his way.

So, he decided to push him against a tree. He had caught Jack completely off guard and was able to pin him to the tree rather easily.

"Alright Doc, why don't you just fess up huh? I'm tired of playing your games." He kept a tight grip on the man while trying not to spend too much energy on him at the same time. He wanted to be looking for Kate right now, not be doing this. But it appeared that he had no choice in the matter.

"Fess up to what?" Jack replied in a whisper due to his current situation. Sawyer tightened his grip slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Now come on Doc, I know the difference between an empty shell and a bullet. Now I know what you think of me and I've made damn sure you know what I think of you, so lets just be honest here shall we? You take my bullets or what?"

Sawyer watched the mans face and saw the same thing that he had at the camp, pure confusion. He began to wonder if he had, after all, blamed the right person. It had to be the doctor, who else would steal his bullets?

"Sawyer, I have no idea what you're talking about." Jack whispered back. Sawyer looked him straight in the eye, trying to gauge whether he was telling the truth or not. Finally, he settled on the fact that a man like the Doc couldn't lie to anyone while looking in the eye. He was too good for it. He dropped his hold on the man and gave him room to breath. Jack choked a bit and then quickly regained his composure.

"If you didn't take my bullets then who in the hell did?" Sawyer asked. He felt fear scorching through him now. Somebody else had a loaded gun out there, or at least the bullets to load one with did they get their grubby hands on one.

Then they heard her scream.

Sawyer didn't say a word to the doctor or wait for him to do whatever he was planning on doin. He just took off in the direction of the scream and didn't look back.

"Kate!" He shouted, trying to get her to make some noise. When she screamed again he knew exactly the direction to go in. He ran faster then he'd ever run before, and it would have been faster then that if he didn't have to keep ducking under the damn tree limbs and jumping over the bushes and logs. He could hear the doctor not too far behind him, trying his best to keep up. At that point he didn't care whether the doctor decided to join the fight or not. He was focusing on Kate's screams. They motivated, angered, and scared him all at the same time.

Kate wasn't the type who was afraid of something small. He couldn't really remember ever hearing her scream like that. So the fact that she was screaming now scared the hell out of him.

"Kate!" He shouted again. This time there was no scream that followed though. He stopped dead in his tracks, causing the doctor to crash into him and nearly knock them both off their feet. "Ouch god dammit! " He said in annoyance. He cast the doctor an exasperated look and the doctor appeared to be just as annoyed by Sawyer as Sawyer was by him.

"Shh. Listen." Sawyer really hated being shushed, especially by someone he truly despised, but he complied because he knew it was the only way he was going to find Kate. So, he shut up and listened. At first all he could hear was his own breath and the occasional rustle of a leaf. When this trend continued for another minute he was beginning get irritated. He cast the doctor a dumbfounded expression but the man continued to listen intently to nothing at all.

Then they heard it.

Sawyer looked over at the doctor to confirm that he wasn't just imagining this sound. It was clear by the doctors eyes that it indeed was a real sound and was really happening around them somewhere.

"Ah hell no!" He said in a loud angry tone and began to run in the direction of the gunshots.

"Sawyer wait!" The doctor yelled from behind. Sawyer had no plans on waiting until she was dead to find her. If those shots were taken at her, then he was going to make sure that she at least had a chance to survive.

"Sawyer!" The doctor said again.

"Those ain't no fireworks doc!" He replied to the mans silent question. As he got closer to the approximate location of the gunshots he began to hear another sound, the sound of water running. He continued to run until he could run no more. And when he finally stopped to take a breathe he found himself at the waterfall, back at the caves.

"god dammit!" He shouted and kicked the closest rock he could find. "How in the hell…" He began but couldn't even find the words to finish the sentence. The doctor came up behind him a moment later, panting and coughing.

"I tried to tell you…" He paused to take a breathe. "We were running in circles." Sawyer couldn't believe this. He couldn't believe that he had let her down, again. He had though that he was at least competent enough to walk in a straight line. In rage, he knelt down the picked up a rock. He threw it at the side of the cave and it ricocheted off and fell into the water. He continued this pattern, trying hard to get his anger out.

"Fuck you island! Fuck you!" He shouted and swung another stone against the wall. This one very nearly came back to hit Jack in the head.

"Sawyer!" Jack shouted, causing Sawyer to hold the next stone in his hand instead of throwing it like the others. He turned to see Jack, sweaty, dirty, but clearly still in control. "We need to stay calm." He said and began to walk in circles around the camp, examining their surroundings. "Now the gunshots came from the east, that way." He pointed and Sawyer followed his finger. "Kate's screams came from the south." He turned to face the south.

"What are you getting at doc?" Sawyer asked impatiently. The Doctor suddenly seemed to lose his confidence and used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat out of his eyes.

"Maybe this is a trap."

Sawyer pondered this in his mind for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"You mean somethans messin' with us?" He became suddenly defensive and walked with his chest out in anger. The doctor nodded in response to him.

"Or someone." Jack added. Sawyer felt himself getting angry again. What had she done to deserve this? What had any of them done?

"Hey you! I know you're out there! So come out and face me like a man!" He shouted. When there was no answer he gripped the rock in his hand tightly and prepared to throw it at the wall again, repeating his pattern. However, something was different about this rock. Just as he was about to swing to throw it he stopped. He felt around it with his fingers first, feeling the smooth texture and long even shape of it. It was slightly warm, like metal that sits in tropical sunlight for to long.

He brought his hand down and examined his rock.

"Kate." He said simple and almost inaudibly. Jack just barely heard him and looked up at him in question.

"What?" Jack asked and moved closer to Sawyer. When Sawyer didn't respond Jack peered down at the so-called rock.

"It's a bullet." He said, half in question. Sawyer nodded.

"Sure as hell is." He paused and smiled. "I shoulda known." Quickly he pocketed the small bullet and searched around for another one similar to it. Jack looked at him like he was insane but Sawyer just ignored him.

"What are you looking for?" Jack asked, following him around. Sawyer was still smiling, relieved at the new revelation. This meant that Kate was still alive somewhere, or at least she had been when she left him a bullet trail.

"Another one." He paused. He kicked around at some sand on the bank leading to the forest and smiled when he found another bullet exactly like the first. "Now we're talkin'!" He said loudly and laughed triumphantly and he held the second one up on display.

"Come on doc, let's go. And keep your sorry ass up this time will ya?"


	12. Rhett Finds Scarlett

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I do not own Gone With the Wind either.

Notes: This one was longer then I imagined. Actually, this _whole story _is getting longer then I ever imagined. But I'll keep writing as long as there is something to write about.

MistyX: Thank you for the honest comments. I appreciate your honesty and I'm glad you finally decided to read this.

Tiny0815: Thanks for your dedication to this story also. I'm so glad you're enjoying it because that's why I write it and I appreciate the comments and emails.

Summary: Sawyer faces an unexpected enemy and finally finds what he's looking for. But what happened to Scarlett out there? And will Rhett be able to help her through it?

"Rhett Saves his Scarlett"

Sawyer felt something that resembled relief. Of course Freckles had taken the bullets out of his gun. She _hated_ that he had that gun. And now she was trying to tell him where she was, trying to help him to help her. It was something that only he would be able to figure out, something only between them, which made him feel both privileged and needed. He hadn't felt much of either since being on the damn island.

She wasn't dead. He knew this in every cell of his body. If she were dead then he would know, period. And when the doc referenced even the possibility of her death he snapped on him.

"She's not." Was what his reply had been. It was a quick tempered remark said straight to the doctors face.

"Sawyer you have to at least…" Began Jack's boring realistic reply.

"You know what doc? I am sick and tired of hearing ya! That woman is alive and I know it and if you don't know it then maybe you shouldn't be out here at all, huh?" He paused. "The beach is that a' way."

Sawyer continued to walk, searching the ground for more bullets. He hadn't found anymore and was starting to get less and less optimistic by the minute. It didn't help that his arch nemesis was trailing behind him re-hatching every bad or scary thought that was going through his mind.

"Sawyer I'm here because I want to find Kate, one way or the other." The man stepped on ahead of him, this angered Sawyer.

"Oh of course, Mr. Big shot doctor wants to be the hero yet again! Well I've got news for ya doc, if you want a pissing contest I can give you a pissing contest. Or hell, we can arm wrestle if ya want. See who can hold the most liquor without fallin' off the stool." He paused. "Oh wait, like father like son. Hell I bet you'd win that one hands down."

The doctor turned on him like an animal and he barely had time to get out of the way of the incoming fist.

"You don't know anything about my father!" Jack shouted at him. Sawyer knew that he'd pushed just the right button with that one. Part of him loved it, and that was the part that he had been trying to suppress as much as possible. That was the part that always got him into trouble at the worst times. Like now, for instance.

"Hell of a guy. Had a great sense of humor." He continued to duck punches. He hated backing down from a fight, especially with a guy like Jack, but there were more important things at stake right now then his ego. "Loved talkin' about his son 'bout as much as he loved that whiskey we were drinkin'." Jack stopped swinging at him, questions now crossing his face.

"You met my father?" He asked, calming down slightly. Sawyer began walking the trail again, not wanting to waste any time. He just assumed the doc would follow him, and he did.

"Well I was having myself a shitty time in Australia, so I went to this hole in wall bar to get myself good and drunk. Met 'im there. We both had the same intentions so we chatted it up a bit. Heard a lot about you Doc, all of it good. Made me sick to tell ya the truth. But your Daddy loved ya if that's what all your brooding is about."

He said it all while walking, searching the ground, and making sure to make no eye contact with the other man. He wasn't one for sappy drawn out moments, but since he had brought the subject up and all he figured he should be honest and let the poor guy off the hook.

When there was no answer for a few minutes Sawyer began to wonder if the man was still behind him at all. So he turned around, just to check.

Sure enough, he was all alone.

"Doc?" He asked in a normal tone. There was no answer of course. There was no one there to answer him or to hear him. Or so he thought anyway. "Hey Doc? You get lost or somethan?" He paused again but heard nothing. "Look I don't know if ya missed it but I was actually bein' honest there." He said, louder this time. And, for the final time, he still heard nothing.

Then he realized it. He _really_ couldn't hear nothing. No birds. No crickets. Not even the grass movin' like before.

"Damn." He whispered and shook his head. He ran even before it made its first move. He knew enough of the damn polar bear to know that it would follow him fast enough. As he ran he could hear the trees behind him being knocked around and it sounded as if a herd of cattle were chasing him. He wouldn't get scared, he couldn't be scared. He didn't have that option now. "You want a piece of this! Come and get it Smokey!" He shouted as he ran. He didn't know about the rest of the island, but he for sure wasn't gonna piss in his pants over a bear that shouldn't even exist.

He ran until his breath began to fail him. He felt it coming, that tightness in his chest that signaled his body was about done with all this running. The thing was still one step behind him though, he knew he needed to find a place to hide and he needed to find it fast.

And there it was. The tree. The one with all the branches that resembled a sort of cage. He figured that would do. He took a wide left turn and dove straight into an opening in the branches. He felt himself fall against something hard and rough, all except his leg of course. That was still stuck up in the air, in between two closely knit branches. And it wasn't about to budge.

"Shit!" Was what came out of his mouth first. He tugged hard on his leg, first with his own body weight and then with the help of his two hands. He tugged hard and fast to the point where his leg was throbbing in pain. The thing was close by and almost there. "Dammit!" Figures he'd end up being the one to lose a limb. And of course it would happen after the only doctor on the island got eaten.

He'd all but given up on his leg surviving this one. "Come on you bastard! Do your worst!" He shouted at the animal, egging it on. If he couldn't save his leg he would at least save his dignity and deal with this like a man.

It all happened so fast. First he was closing his eyes, waiting for the pain. Next he felt it, two arms encircling his waste and tugging on him. Before he could turn and look he saw a large hairy claw attacking the outside of his tree cage, but not his leg. His leg was now safely inside with him.

But he wasn't alone.

He turned around and saw her. He followed his immediate instinct, which was to shield her from the angry animal with himself. He shoved her up against the tree trunk as far back as they could go and made it so that she was curled into a ball underneath him. He curled himself around her and waited until the noise of the angry animal disappeared. Next thing he knew it was gone and there was silence all around him. He could hear her breathing, it sounded erratic and frightened. He immediately moved back and took a look at her.

She was clearly mangled. Her hair was in shambles and her clothing had been torn and was covered in what appeared to be mud. Her face was scratched and she seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain.

"Kate?" He asked, even though he knew the answer. He convinced himself that he'd asked it in order to clarify her own state of mind, not his own. She looked up at him, fear and relief in her eyes at the same time. She swallowed thickly and without warning grabbed his leg, the one that she had saved.

"Is your leg ok?" She asked urgently, as if she _hadn't _been missing for half a day and his leg was their biggest concern.

"Still there I suppose." He replied with a smirk, hoping to ease her emotional state. She looked up at him and her lower lip began to quiver. It was slow at first, just barely noticeable, but then it quicken to the point where even she couldn't deny it anymore. She reached up and hugged him, laying her head on his chest.

He reached his arms around her and held her there. He found himself stroking her hair and laying his head against the top of hers. It was incredible to him, that he could do this at all. It was incredible that she had just thrown herself in his arms and it had actually made him feel better then anything had in a long time. Sawyer didn't let this happen, ever. Sawyer never let himself get this close to people, it was just a rule he'd lived by for as long as he could remember. And now in one moment it all gone to hell. He felt himself getting lost in his feelings and he hated every minute of it, but also loved it.

"Kate?" He whispered after a few minutes silence. After a few more minutes he pulled back just enough to be able to see her face. She sniffled and looked up at him. She moved back all the way, causing him to resist slightly. But he had to let her go, he knew he had to.

She looked shaken still, but a lot less afraid then she had been. He would have liked to think that it was his presence that made her less afraid, but he knew better then that. It was all her.

"Sawyer." She said his name, almost in question. For a moment he was worried about her memory. The pregnant girl had lost her memory when they'd taken her. What if they'd done the same thing to Kate?

"What'd they do to you?" He asked, surprised at the level of anger and dread in his voice. She looked down and touched her arm in a place where she'd been cut.

"Nothing." She whispered after a moment. "They didn't do anything to me." Sawyer didn't believe it for a moment. All he had to do was look at her to know it wasn't the truth.

"Tell me" He touched her chin and forced her to look him straight in the eye this time. "Tell me so I know how to torture them before I kill 'em".

This time she stood up and, before he could stop her, she'd squeezed herself through the branches and was wiping herself off. He quickly followed her and stayed as close as he could to her. He got the message that she didn't want him too close to her right now, she he stayed behind her a bit. He just followed her when she began to walk and stopped when she stopped.

"We have to get back to camp before it gets dark." She said, about ten minutes into their hike. Sawyer nodded, even though he knew it was unlikely that they would make it back by then. She looked so vulnerable right now, like if he touched her or even tried to disagree with her she would fall to pieces.

And he didn't dare mention Jack to her. Not right now anyway. He didn't even know if the doctor was dead or alive, although the odds seemed to be more towards the first option.

It was fifteen minutes after dark when they finally reached a familiar setting, their waterfall. This would be a good place to stay, Sawyer thought. It was a place no one knew about, a place where she could regain her bearings before taking on a crowd of curious lemmings back at the beach.

Kate made a move to head towards camp and he finally decided that he would have to interfere.

"Wait." He hooked himself onto her arm just enough to get her to turn and look at him. "I think we should stay here tonight." She shook her head.

"No, its not safe." Her eyes pleaded with him to agree with her.

"It's safe." He replied forcefully. He knew it probably wasn't any safer here then in the middle of the jungle, where he'd found her. He also knew the beach wasn't safe anymore. There was no safe place anymore as far as he was concerned. But if those freaks were going to attack them it would be at the beach first, in an open crowded place. No one knew about this place, they would be safe enough for now.

She seemed to examine his face for a moment, trying to gauge his level of confidence in this place that seemed to frighten her. "How do you know that for sure?" She asked, obviously hoping for a solid answer to ease her fear. He looked her over, considering how to respond.

"Come on, we can camp right over there." He ignored her question, hoping she wouldn't insist on an answer. He couldn't give her an honest one, not one that wouldn't worry her more anyway. He began to lead her to a small cave formation just to the side of the falls.

"No, stop." She pulled herself out of his grasp. He let her go easily, not wanting to intimidate her or take away her control. He'd been here before. He'd been in a place where someone had taken everything from him in one moment and caused him unbelievable pain. More then anything from that moment on he'd wanted control over his life and his actions. It had been all that held him together, that small amount of control that took him through his childhood and into adulthood. He still held onto it like a safety blanket. It was hard as hell to give up even a small part of it, but he knew it was what she needed from him at that moment.

Suddenly she began pulling at her clothing and smelling it. "Its here! Its all over me!" She was beginning to lose her control right before his eyes.

"What's all over you?" He asked, wondering if she was talking about the mud.

"The blood. The _bait_. Its everywhere!" Without warning she dived into the water and began dunking herself underneath and splashing water onto her clothing.

Sawyer tried to comprehend what she'd just said. _Blood._ It wasn't her blood, at least he didn't think it was her blood. She didn't appear to be badly injured, physically anyway. _Bait._ What the hell was that supposed to mean? Dread poured through him at even the thought of it.

He removed his shirt and jumped into the water after she didn't resurface again. He found her swimming around underneath, not wanting to come back up yet. He forced her, having to use nearly all his strength to do so. When they resurfaced she was crying and trying to peel her clothing off. Normally this would be something Sawyer would _want_ to see a beautiful woman do, but this was different. She wanted out of her clothes so badly, like they were hurting her somehow.

"Kate!" He said, trying not to shout, and grabbed onto her by her waist. His first concern was that she would go under the water again, but when it appeared that all she wanted was to get her clothes off he let her free long enough to do just that.

"Its everywhere Sawyer! The blood its everywhere! They put it all over me, so that it would take me." She began to confess to him, right there in the middle of the waterfall. Sawyer felt a sick feeling grow in his stomach. If she meant what he thought she meant he would certainly be doin' some killin' come morning.

She finally freed herself from all of her clothing and was swimming more calmly now. She seemed to be more calm, almost satisfied that everything would be ok now that the clothes were gone.

"Its cold." Was what she said next. She smiled slightly at him, as if she now felt foolish for wanting to get rid of her clothing.

"Well Freckles, that tends to happen when you go swimming' in the nude in the middle of the night. Figured you'd know about that by now." He smiled back at her, noticing that she was returning to her old self. He swam back to the shore and got on land. He held up his shirt so she could see it. "Here, put this on."

She swam quickly back to shore and hesitated when he handed her the shirt. She was still under the water, hiding herself. He rolled his eyes. "Aw, what? Ain't nothing' I haven't seen before Freckles." He complained. He began to wonder if this was a bad idea when she didn't smile her usual smile at him. He looked down, unsure of himself. But a moment later he heard her emerge from the water and turned his head just enough to notice that she was still in her bra and panties. Seemed she hadn't lost her mind entirely, although part of him wished she had. She grinned a mischievous grin at him and he found that familiar spark rekindling inside of him. He shook his head.

She leaned down and picked up the shirt that was lying on the ground next to them. He watched her the whole way, partly aroused and partly concerned that it was all an act for Kate to distract herself from the truth of what had happened to her.

"Maybe we should go start a fire." She suggested and turned towards the cave. The shirt was big enough on her to cover down to her mid thighs and she seemed comfortable enough in it.

Damn sexy too, Sawyer thought.

"Now why is it that women always look better in my clothes then I do?" He said loud enough for her to hear him but not loud enough for the monsters and polar bears to find them. She turned her head and smiled a shaky smile at him in response.

His smile faded as he watched her walk into the cave and put together some sticks and leaves to start a fire. She was shaking. He'd pretended not to notice, trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

He knew that they had a long night ahead of them.

Plenty of time to figure out just what had had happened to Kate.

And plenty of time to figure out how he was going to kill the assholes who did it to her.


	13. Rhett Loves Scarlett but is that enough?

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also do not own Gone With the Wind, Rhett Butler, or Scarlett O'Hera.

Notes: Sorry this is so late! I've been really busy lately getting ready for my vacation. There is a language warning on this one, like always. ) Sorry, I just can't do Sawyer without a few bad words here and there.

Summary: Will Kate tell Sawyer about her experiences with the others? Or will her own fears cause him to walk away from her for good.

"Rhett Loves Scarlett: But is That Enough?"

They didn't say much at first. In fact the silence seemed to last far longer then it should have. Kate had lit the fire. Sawyer had checked our the surrounding area before joining her, making sure that they hadn't been followed. Then they both sat down and stared into the flames. Kate nuzzled into his shirt, still shivering from the contrast of the water on her skin with the cool breeze outside. She had regressed into something resembling deep thought, and Sawyer decided that ten minutes of this was quite enough.

"Hey Freckles, you still in there?" He stared directly at her eyes until she seemed to wake up and look back at him. "Bout time you stopped thinking and started talking don't ya think sweet cheeks?"

She didn't say anything at first, just shrugged. "I told you Sawyer, there's nothing to talk about." She was a good liar. He'd known that from the first day he'd met her. From the time when she'd picked up that handgun and pretended she didn't know a damn thing about it. She could convince a lot of people with her lies. Not him though, never could. Sawyer wasn't much of a man and he'd admit to it, but he was good at reading people. He suspected that part of the reason she had been so intrigued with him from the start was that she found him interesting. That suited him just fine, just as long as she kept on following him like always.

"Alright Freckles, if you say so." He stood up, making like he was about to leave.

"Where are you going?" She demanded, sounding almost worried. He knew she would say that too.

"What's it matter to ya?" He smiled his cocky grin and cocked his head. She looked so small when he looked down at her like that. Normally she had so much confidence and power irradiating from her, but not now. She'd been broken somehow. This pissed him off to no end.

She pretended to not care. "It was just a question." Although they both knew it was much more then that.

"Fine." He took off towards the entrance of the small cave. He didn't want to even be that far from her and his protective feelings came back full stride. But he was trying to prove a point, trying to get her to fess up to something, anything really.

"Sawyer…" She stood up and he turned around to see her at his level now. But still, eye to eye, she looked so fragile and childlike. She was doing all she could to hide it from him and, after all they'd been through, he really expected more from her then this. It seemed she just couldn't get the words out of her mouth, the words he needed to hear from her. Hell, he'd trekked out into the monster ridden jungle with no support from anybody just to find her. He'd given up his place on the raft for her, his ticket to freedom. He'd even laid himself out there, something he never ever did.

And she couldn't even be honest with him.

He was beginning to feel more and more like Rhett Butler every minute now: used and foolish for ever letting her into his life.

"_What?" _He said, even more annoyed then he anticipated it to sound. "Spit it out sweet cheeks cause I ain't got all night."

"_Where _are you going?" She demanded it this time. He could see that she was desperate but refused to show him that.

"Hell Freckles I don't know. I was just gonna go take a piss in the bushes but right about now I'm starting to think maybe I outta just go jump on that raft and head out to sea!" It was out before he could stop it. He knew it was a lie, the raft was long gone by now. He was deliberating trying to hurt her, trying to push her buttons. He wanted to see her crack, just once. Call him cruel or even heartless, but he wanted to see her cry for him.

It worked. Hundreds of emotions spread across her face at once. He'd hurt her bad and he knew it. Still, he waited. For what he wasn't quite sure, but he had to see what she would do next. It was her move now.

"So you're still going on the raft? After you came all the way out here?" Her voice cracked slightly, but she didn't break.

He shook his head, still angry. "Well Hell, you ain't giving me any reason to stay now are ya?" He paused. "You come this close and then ya pull back! You give me just enough to keep me hanging on and then you walk away! Well I'm getting a little tired of your games sweetheart. I don't wanna play anymore!" This time he walked away, for real. He was pissed off at her for making him feel so damn good and then pretending like it, whatever _it_ was, didn't even exist.

"Well maybe I do!" She shouted after him. He realized she was following him, yet again. "I was kidnapped Sawyer! They took me and they were going to kill me!" Now _she_ was angry with him. It seemed, to Sawyer, like a never ending circle.

"Fine! They _kidnapped _you! But what else did they do! Why were you in that damn tree covered in whatever the hell that shit was? Why did you strip down in the water and almost have a goddamned nervous breakdown!" He paused and turned to face her. She had stopped following him. She was standing about four feet away now, her arms wrapped around herself to keep warm. She was shaking, he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or something else. She was looking at him with pure dread, like telling him the truth would be the death of her.

He waited for a long time. He waited for he to say anything at all to him, but she just stared. He couldn't see much in the darkness, but he knew that she was probably fighting her emotions with everything she had. That was how it usually went. He shook his head, his anger turning to a type of pain he'd never felt before. At least not in a very long time.

"I thought you trusted me. And hell I ain't the type of guy people usually trust but I thought that maybe you were special or different or whatever the hell people say. My past ain't exactly pretty but at least I wasn't afraid to lay it all out there now was I?" He stopped to breath and also gauge her reaction to his words. She was obviously affected by them but far too stubborn to show it, as always. He sighed and returned to a normal tone of voice. "Look sweet heart I ain't the type for all this drama crap and you know it. I came out here because it was the only thing I could figure to do when you went missin'. That's what men do in the south, when a woman needs savin' they save her."

She smiled, but he hadn't meant it as a joke.

"But since you say you're just fine now and it seems like maybe you don't need me around here then I'm thinking I should be off to a place where I can do somethan' useful." Part of him meant it, but part of him knew it was just a ploy to get her to talk to him. She lost her smile and he saw something that almost resembled acceptance on her face. Dammit, maybe his words were true after all. Maybe she did want him gone.

He turned to leave and walked steadily towards the jungle. He wasn't afraid of the others, hell if they were gonna take him they could've done that earlier. He didn't want to leave her alone and he dreaded the idea of it, but maybe it was for the best.

"Please don't go Sawyer." This time it was different. She wasn't hiding behind her mask anymore. He bit his lip and stopped just before she was out of his sight. He heard her coming closer to him. The protective side of him wanted to tell her to go back to the cave and get out of the open jungle, but he also wanted her to be close to him. "I was in the tree because…" She stopped to choke on her words. "because they left me for dead. There was a whole group of them. I was going back to the beach to talk to you. I, Jack was telling me about the others and I realized that there was really nothing that we could do to stop them from attacking us. I realized, that the safest place on the island, for me, would be with you."

He took in all of her words. They were disjointed and out of order. They were fragments of thoughts and occurrences that came into her mind and out of her mouth in the same second. They were honest and real.

He turned around and saw that she was crying with her eyes closed and reliving the events as she spoke them out loud.

"Kate." He moved closer to her and put his hands on her face. "Kate, open your eyes." He whispered. She was shaking both from the cold and the emotions she was feeling and did his best to make her feel warm and safe. Eventually she did open her eyes and what he saw was pure fear in them. But she did recognize him and she reached out and clung to him. He let her do this for a few minutes, until she could get her balance again. Then he spoke. "Come along now, lets go by the fire."

She followed him into the cave. He left her side for a moment, just enough time for him to find some more sticks and leaves to feed the fire. Then they settled in for the night. He leaned against the cave wall and she leaned up against him. And when they got comfortable enough he asked her to tell him everything. He listened as she spoke about being attacked in the jungle, not very far from the beach. How they had kept her conscious the entire time while she watched them fight over who would get to _have her_ first. He tensed when he heard this, but relaxed when she told him how she had fought her way out of their clutches and away from them entirely. She'd run a long way and screamed for help before they finally caught up with her. This time they'd hit her on the head just enough to disorientate her and dragged her along the ground all the way beck to their camp.

She became silent then. He wondered if she was trying to remember what happened next. Part of him didn't want her to remember. Finally, he had to encourage her to continue. "What did they do?" It was difficult for him to even utter the words because he was so afraid of the answer.

"They threw a bucket of something all over me. It smelled horrible, like blood and vomit mixed together or something." She was picking at the end seam of the shirt she was wearing, keeping herself disconnected. "It was sticky and it stuck to my clothes and my hair and everything. And then they untied me and let me go. They chased me away actually, I thought that I was going to be ok." She smiled sadly. "But then when I was running I started to hear the sound of trees crashing and I heard those savages cheering and I realized that that _thing_ was chasing me. I don't know how I got away. I just ran so fast but it felt like I was going so slow. It felt like it was right behind me and it knocked me down once I think. But next thing I knew I was hiding in that tree." She paused and looked up at him. "And you were there."

He hugged her close, not sure what else to do. These people sounded even worse then he had imagined. And now they were stuck here, on this island, with them. She was looking up at him, waiting for a response.

"I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner." It was the most honest thing he could say to her.

"I'm glad you found me at all." Was her reply. He smiled. "But if those…savages…attack our camp. No one's going to survive. They'll torture and kill everything in sight." She was distressed again. He had to tell her about Jack. He knew it, he knew he couldn't keep it from her after she'd been so honest with him.

"Kate." He turned so that they were facing each other. "I got somethan' I gotta tell you."

She looked at him with so much faith that he could barely get the words out. How could he protect her if he couldn't even stop the Doc from getting eaten? How would she ever feel safe with him?

"The raft is gone. It sailed bout two or three hours ago, right when you disappeared about. " He paused and saw her somewhat confused expression. "I'm not goin' nowhere."

She nodded, taking it all in. "OK." was her response. Neither of them had the strength for another emotional conversation. Her simple reply said all he needed to hear.

She fell asleep about an hour later. It was a fitful sleep but he kept an eye on her and calmed her whenever she fidgeted too much. Sawyer, on the other hand, couldn't sleep at all.

And he was grateful for this because he knew he was fully alert when he heard the sound of footsteps outside of the cave door.


	14. Rhett, Scarlett, and Ashley?

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also do not own Gone With the Wind, Scarlett, or Rhett.

Notes: Yes, this story will end eventually. I just have no idea how. ) But here's the next chapter. Lots of Sawyer/Kate/Jack love triangle action. And for those of you who haven't seen/read Gone With The Wind, the line "What a woman!" was said by Rhett Butler. I've borrowed it in this story.

Summary: Sawyer and Kate meet up with a fellow castaway and learn of the fate of the raft.

"Rhett, Scarlett, and Ashley?"

The first sound that got his attention was the sound of a stick cracking. After that there was silence for a moment, as if the intruder was contemplating whether it was safe to proceed. Sawyer became very tense and very aware of his surroundings.

Hell if he was gonna let some loon get his hands on her again.

He was lying behind her, farthest away from the cave opening, in the classic spoon position. He pushed the hair away from her ear and lightly nudged her with his body. He whispered her name in her ear, trying not to announce their presence to the awaiting attacker.

"Sawyer?" She said in a normal tone. He winced at the volume of her voice.

"Shhh." He said with insistence. She took offense of this for half a second, until she noticed the shadow outside of the cave opening.

"They found us." She whispered in panic. She was beginning to shake again and he touched her arm in an attempt to comfort her.

"Shut up and just do what I say." He demanded. He knew she wasn't the type of girl to take orders, but in this situation he wasn't giving her an option. "Move slow and get against the wall." He gestured to the wall behind them. She followed his order, glancing at him in concern. He had no qualms about what he was doing. This was one situation where he felt he had complete confidence in his abilities. Once she was behind him he made sure he was blocking the majority of her body with his own. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out the handgun he'd stolen from the doctor.

"Sawyer no…" Kate began. He knew what she was going to tell him.

"Save the confession Freckles I already know." He glanced at her, a serious look all about him. "This one has bullets in it sweet cheeks; you know the kind that _kill_ people." She seemed to back farther into the wall, almost afraid of this new and intimidating man before her. He knew he must look scary at the moment, but that was just the determination. Sawyer didn't have much to fight for, but when he did he fought with his whole heart and soul.

He watched the shadow and listened to the footsteps. Half of him was focused on the person outside, the other half on the person he was protecting. There were no distractions. He could hear her behind him, breathing rapidly and trying to hold it together. But right now his main focus had to be on that shadow in the entrance of the cave and he mentally painted a big red target on the thing creating it.

The shadow moved closer and closer until the silhouette of a person was seen attempting to enter the cave. That was when he jumped into action.

"I got a gun pointed straight at the top of your head, friend. Now if you don't want to die tonight you might want to just step back a step." His southern accent made the threat sound even more psychotic and real. He knew this about himself and often doubled his accent just to intimidate people.

The figure began to back up slowly, leaving their little makeshift home. Sawyer watched until the shadow was outside of the cave entirely and then, gun first of course, took a step towards the opening. He glanced back at Kate a moment, meeting her eyes. When he spoke it was loud and with a purpose.

"Don't move. Me and my little friend will be right there." He winked as he spoke. This was both a threat to the man standing outside and a reassurance to the woman he was trying to protect. She smiled back at him, showing that she understood. He nodded a silent response and stepped fully out into the open.

"What the…" He began, staring at the presence before him. He stood tall with his hands held high in the air. He took the threat seriously and was obviously intimidated, yet at the same time amused. His clothes were torn and there were stains resembling blood on them.

"Hi Sawyer. Long time no see." Jack said, a slight sarcastic tone to his voice. Sawyer had no choice but to lower the gun, though he would have loved to keep it raised on this man.

"Well hey there Doc. Didn't figure I'd be seein' you anytime soon." His cocky grin had returned and his voice was sarcastic in tone. Kate obviously took this as a sign that it was ok to come out because she appeared behind him a moment later.

"Jack?" She said it as a question. She was obviously surprised and happy to see him. This made Sawyer slightly pissed off.

"Hey Kate. I'm glad to see that you're ok." _What?_ Was what went through Sawyer's head at that moment. He spoke as if he gave a damn about her when just hours before he'd nearly chosen a goddamn raft over her!

"I'm glad to see you too." She did that shy smile that he found so damn sexy. And she was doing it at _him!_ It made Sawyer sick.

"Excuse me! Would ya'll like me to leave so you can get reacquainted?" It was a joke of course, but Sawyer wasn't amused. Kate rolled her eyes at him. He just shot her a jealous glare. She walked out from behind him and stood between the two.

"Sawyer found me." She said simply and smiled at him. Sawyer couldn't help but feel himself becoming slightly less upset. "The others, Jack, they're really dangerous." Her voice cracked at the mention of the others. Sawyer instinctively moved a few steps closer to her.

And so did Jack, making Sawyer want to raise that gun back up in his direction.

"Yea, I know." His words were slow and serious. It caused both Sawyer and Kate to question his knowledge of this. "They've already attacked."

"Is everyone ok?" Was the first thing out of Kate's mouth. She reached out and grabbed Sawyer's arm. He couldn't help but smile at that small but important gesture.

Jack noticed it too. He obviously found it hideous and this made Sawyer all the happier.

"Um…yea everyone at camp is fine. They didn't attack the camp, Kate, they attacked the raft."

Sawyer looked at Kate and she looked back at him. Only the two of them could fully understand the impact of that statement.

"Sounds kind of stupid if you ask me." Sawyer butted in. "Why the raft when there's so much fresh meat roasting down at the beach?" He didn't realize what he'd referenced, at least not until Kate winced at his remark. Jack seemed to think it was equally appalling. Sawyer shrugged and gave Kate an apologetic smile. He refused to ratify himself to Jack though.

"Because…" Jack began. Sawyer sensed a long and heroic monologue in the wings and reached out with one hand and tickled Kate lightly in her side. She smiled at him and rolled her eyes, gesturing towards Jack and his impending speech. Jack looked back at them, obviously annoyed. Kate straightened up immediately and Sawyer cleared his throat, pretending to be the good student just to mock the man. "Because they didn't want everybody. They wanted one person." He paused for emphasis. Sawyer waited impatiently. "Walt."

"You mean they took Walt?" Kate asked, in fear. Sawyer saw her tense up and reached out to grasp her hand.

"As far as we know yea. We found everyone else." He paused. "Jin didn't make it, but Michael is ok minus a few scrapes." He reached up and scratched his head. Sawyer finally managed to move entirely behind Kate and hold her against him. He knew she wouldn't' like what he was about to say.

"OK. So we find the bastards and rip their throats out. Get the kid back. Can't be too hard." Sawyer was serious. The kid was smart, probably smarter then half of the so called professionals on the island. He was also one of the few people on the island who actually still _liked_ him. He owed him a good rescue.

"No!" It was immediate. "No it's not that simple Sawyer!" Kate pulled away from him and went back into the cave. Sawyer watched her until she was concealed inside and then turned back to Jack.

"Ladies first." He gestured to the cave entrance. Jack rolled his eyes.

"This is serious Sawyer." He murmured and went in the cave after Kate. Sawyer mocked him under his breath and followed him inside of the tiny shelter.

Kate was there, curled up inside of his shirt. She seemed very aware that she was still in her bra and panties and little more. Sawyer figured that Jack's presence must be making her uncomfortable. At least he hoped it was Jack's presence.

"Kate, did something happen to you in the jungle?" He heard the words leave the man's mouth just as he entered the cave. _Oh Hell No. _

Kate was fidgety and trying to ignore his question. She had shut her eyes and balanced her head on her knees. "I told you that they were dangerous Jack. They're going to kill him if they haven't already."

Sawyer sat down next to her, throwing another twig on the fire. He reached out and put his hand on her lower back. The touch made her flinch and he quickly removed it.

"Well I actually kind of agree with Sawyer on this one…" Jack looked over at Sawyer, disdain in his glare. "We need to do what we can to save Walt."

"You _would_ say that Doc." Sawyer replied. He couldn't even explain how much he hated that man right now. "If the lady say's no, then it's a no." It appeared to everyone that Sawyer was just trying to look better then Jack at the moment by agreeing with Kate. Truth was, he did agree with Kate. Going to rescue the kid would be the noble thing to do, sure, maybe even the so called _right _thing.

But Kate had been there. She had seen it all first hand. If she said there was no chance of a successful rescue then she was the one he would believe.

"Are you suggesting that we leave Walt out there, all alone?" Jack asked, glaring at Sawyer in particularly. Sawyer narrowed his eyes and stared back.

"Trying to imply something' there Doc?" He paused. "Hell Doc I thought you were polar bear food. Why would I go back to rescue a damn dead fish?" Kate perked up, not sure as to what was going on here.

"What are you talking about?" She asked immediately. Both men flinched back.

"Doc was trying to help me look for 'ya. Next thing I know I look behind me and all I see is a big white bear ready to kick my ass. You best bet that I ran!" He kept his stare on Jack the entire time. This was no longer about Kate, at least not right now. The bastard would hurt her if necessary, he could tell. He'd already done it enough times.

"I wouldn't expect any more out of you Sawyer, believe me." Was Jack's response. It was quickly becoming a verbal fist fight.

"Stop it!" Kate cried out, so loud that her voice echoed throughout the cave. She put her hands over her ears and stood up. "I can't take this anymore! Those _animals_ out there are murders and rapists and who knows what else. Yet all you two can do is fight like a couple of six year olds instead of working together and figuring out how to fix this like adults!" She sighed and looked away. Sawyer felt a flash of shame go through him. He wasn't usually the kind to be ashamed of his own behavior, but she had a good point. When he'd come into the woods it had been all about Kate, finding her and keeping her safe. When Jack showed up that had all changed. "You know what? You two do what you want; I'm going for a walk." And she walked outside, into the darkness.

There was a short pause before either of the men realized what she meant and how bad of an idea it was.

Sawyer stood immediately to follow her. Hell if he was gonna let her get abducted again. She might not survive the second time.

"What a woman!" He said, quiet enough so she couldn't hear him but loud enough to get his point across.

Jack shook his head and laughed lightly at the comment. Sawyer rolled his eyes at the other man's behavior, knowing he didn't understand the exact meaning of the words he'd just said. Eventually Jack stood and followed Sawyer outside.

"Hey Freckles, wait up!" Sawyer shouted. He had heard Jack stand up to follow him but resisted saying another word to the man. The most important thing now was to find her and try to convince her that he wasn't an immature asshole, at least not _most _of the time anyway. But he was getting more and more worried by the minute. He'd just caught a glimpse of her back as he exited the cave and she seemed to already be deep into the jungle. He listened, trying to hear her footsteps, but quickly realized that he was following a so-called expert tracker here. If she didn't want him to find her, she wouldn't be found.

"Hey sweetheart! You really think this was the best idea?" He shouted, more nervous and less cocky this time. He heard his voice waver as he realized that he had, indeed, lost sight of her entirely.

"Kate!" He tried one last effort. He pushed himself deeper into the jungle. He didn't sense Jack behind him and figured the man must have gone in another direction to look for her. Fine by him. Hell, he wouldn't wanna be blamed for the guy gettan' eaten' yet again.

He stopped in his tracks them. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. She couldn't really be gone, could she? She was just messing with him; it was what they did after all.

Then he saw her. He looked up and saw her standing there, in between two large trees. She was completely still. He approached her immediately.

"Kate, what the hell is going through your mind huh? A walk? Are you outta your mind!" He stormed up to her and looked at her. She was completely still and looked frightened. But this didn't register with him right away, so he continued talking. He tried a new approach this time. "Look, I'm sorry alright. I'm sorry! I don't say I'm sorry to anyone ever, especially a woman! But I am! You were right. I'm sorry dammit!" He threw his hands in the air, trying to show how much he meant the words. The gesture only came off as arrogant and cocky though, as most things did with him.

"Sawyer please stop shouting." She whispered harshly. He stared her square in the eyes for a solid minute. To his surprise she looked straight back at him. And he noticed, for the first time, how much he did fancy her eyes.

After the minute had passed he wanted to say something. Sawyer wasn't one for awkward silences, even if this one hadn't been too awkward.

'Kate what the hell is…" He didn't get to finish the sentence because she kissed him before he could.

The kiss was short and to the point, and it did shut him up.

It was also the first time they'd kissed in a good long time.

And when it ended he felt her against him. But she wasn't just leaning on him, she was shaking. She was terrified. But of what?

"Kate?" He whispered this time, with fear in his voice. "What is it? Are they here?" She looked up at him, paralyzed.

And she nodded. She made him look at her, look at her eyes. They were the only part of her moving, and they were looking up.

So, he followed her lead this time. He looked up. And he made the same face he had on the day they'd first discovered the bodies under the waterfall.

And when he did all kinds of words and phrases came to mind. All kinds of "what that hell?", "who was that?", "what did that?" and "how did they get that to bend that way?"

Instead he just looked back at her, swallowed a thick lump in his throat, and said. "I don't know bout you Scarlett, but I ain't planning' on sticking around to watch the old south fall."

She looked at him, fear in her eyes, and nodded her agreement to his coded question.

He took her hand slowly and carefully, and they ran as quickly as they could.


	15. Rhett & Scarlett: Finally Together

Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also do not own Gone With The Wind or Rhett and Scarlett.

Notes: The conclusion to this story. Mainly because I'm leaving on vacation in two days and I don't want to leave anyone hanging for that long. But overall I think it all came together well.

Summary: The final chapter. Sawyer and Kate think of everything they've been through, and finally consummate their relationship. Implied sex, but nothing graphic.

Rhett and Scarlett: Finally Together.

When dawn finally showed its face, it found the two survivors on a beach, miles from where the rest of their group had laid camp. Halfway across the island, between good and evil, if such a thing did exist anymore. They were huddled together, watching the sunrise over the horizon and silently wondering where they could go from here.

Sawyer was looking out into the ocean. He was leaning against her. Not entirely of course, because she was leaning against him too. They were supporting each other, literally. Sawyer had never been the type to lean on anybody, ever. He'd found that they usually didn't stay put long enough for him to even try it. And hell, who could he trust to support his weight anyway? The world was full of liars and con artists, and he should know because he was one of them. But Kate was just…Kate. She always seemed to come back to him no matter how much he shooed her away. And after what they had just seen, they both needed to be supported.

Sawyer was having a hard time processing this situation. It was early dawn now and they'd been running through the jungle for who knows how long. And when they'd finally reached the camp Sawyer had chosen immediately to go in the opposite direction. He'd been in front, the first to see the devastation. The others had finally found their way to the beach. People had been killed. Sawyer could see that some of them had escaped. He knew they'd probably gone to the caves for safety reasons. Most of the people who had died were not people who he'd associated with, not that Sawyer ever really associated with anybody. He was, as said by many of those same people who were now rotting on that beach, the picture of antisocial.

And then there was Kate. She was leaning against him, not with full force but enough so that he would know that she was there. She, too, was deeply in thought. She'd seen the bodies and devastation at the beach, he knew this. Although he had dragged her away from there almost immediately. She'd wanted to stay, _help people._ Sawyer wasn't against the concept itself, but when it meant thatshe would be putting her own life in danger in the process it just wasn't worth the effort. Besides, hero work was the doc's thing. Who were they to take the happy out of the doc's life anyway? All he knew was that at the moment he had looked at the bloody mess on the beach he'd been driven to get her as far away from there as possible.

So, here they were. Hell if he knew what to do next. Planning wasn't his thing and coming here had been less of a plan and more of a reaction. He looked over at Freckles. She was looking at him, sadness in her eyes. But at the same time, he noticed a determination about her that hadn't shown itself since before those crazies had taken her. He locked eyes with her and saw the question in them.

_What do we do now?_

"You know, when I was a kid, I used to wish to be in a place like this. A big island, beaches, never ending food supply. I used to want to go to someplace far away from my house and just start over." She was looking out at the ocean. Sawyer watched her with curiosity as she spoke. When she didn't appear to have anything else to add Sawyer butted in.

"Well 'seems like you got your wish Freckles. Courtesy of _Oceanic Airlines_." He smirked. He saw her looking at him. She was smiling.

"You can say that again." She looked back out at the ocean, the sad smile still on her face. Sawyer watched as the wind blew her hair lightly into her face. "Sawyer?" She didn't ask the question. She didn't have to. He knew what it was.

He sighed. "Hell if I know Freckles." He stood up, frustration raging through him. One thing that really pissed him off was when he didn't know what to do next. And the fact that Kate was depending on him for the answer made it all the more frustrating. "Look I ain't Rhett Butler alright! I mean you want me to get firewood I can do that! Build a raft, sure _why not_? Hell I can even kill a man if you ask me too. But trying to keep a pack of lunatic savages from feeding us to a big, whatever the hell it is? Sorry, Freckles I ain't got nothan' for that."

She looked up at him. To his surprise, she didn't look upset. She looked almost happy. This struck him as odd and he began to not trust his own eyes.

"Sawyer." She stood up, looking at him the whole way. "Stop. Just, stop talking." Her smile began turning into laughter. Sawyer was genuinely confused and his face showed it. And his confusion, of course, caused her to begin laughing more, nearly uncontrollably.

"Freckles you on somethan'?" He asked. She continued laughing, despite his seriousness. He could help but feel a little angry that she was laughing at a time like this. "Look, this is serious here!"

She laughed even harder, finally crouching down on the ground because her legs couldn't support her own weight anymore. "OK Jack!" She said through her laughter.

And that's when he realized how Jack-like he was being, exactly why she was laughing at him. It was exactly why she'd chosen him, the outlaw, over Jack, the hero. It was so clear to him now and he began to feel something similar to relief.. And the idea that he'd been acting like such an ass just made him want to slug himself. "Dammit! What the hell…" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence. He was still frustrated, but this time it was a different and less serious type of frustration.

And when he looked down and saw her laughing, looking at him with eyes so damn lively and free, he just couldn't help himself.

"Oh you best stop laughing sweetheart!" He began walking towards her, doing his best angry impression.

"Or what?" She asked. "You gonna talk me to death?" Her cheeks were pink with amusement.

He just kept walking. "You wish sweet cheeks." Finally, when he was closing in, she seemed to realize his threats. She stood and ran down the beach more towards the ocean. Sawyer followed, walking at first and eventually jogging to catch up with her.

And when he grabbed her it was entirely in play. He lifted her and walked far enough into the water where it would be safe to drop her in. "You gonna take it back, huh?" He lifted her until her legs were swinging in the air and brought her to the waters edge, threatening to drop her into it. "Or you wanna take a swim instead?"

"No Sawyer!" She was laughing and shouting at the same time. "Sawyer stop it!" When he lowered her close enough to the water where her feet touched, she finally relented. "OK! OK! I take it back."

Satisfied, Sawyer moved to carry her back to land. But when his foot came into contact with a stray root on the ground he found himself falling back first into the ocean.

The last thing he heard was Kate's scream and then the splash of water around him. He lost his grip on her and once he resurfaced he searched the surrounding area for her.

"Hey, Kate! Kate!" He turned a circle in the water. His hair was dropping in his eyes and he was having a hard time seeing.

And next thing he knew he was being pulled underneath the water. "Son of a bitch!" He said, the water silencing most of it. He saw her swimming up towards the surface and he quickly followed.

"Hey Rhett." She said, when he'd resurfaced and recognized the blurry figure in front of him as Kate. He floated closer to her until they were face to face. He kissed her, slow and sweet at first. Then he pulled back, a mischievous grin on his face. "What?" She asked, suddenly frightened. He moved closer, their faces nearly touching.

"Ask me again." He said. It was simple, but she seemed confused for a moment.

"What?" She smiled back at him. He tossed his head to get the hair out of his eyes.

"Ask it, sweetheart." He paused and cocked his head. "Or you too afraid to hear the answer?" She smiled, realizing what he was talking about. There was a spark in her eye, like they were both on the same page.

"OK. What do we do now?" She said every word and ever syllable slowly and with emphasis. He reached out under the water and put his arms around her small waist, pulling her against him. She seemed startled for a moment but soon gave in to his advances.

"I'm a man of action Scarlett."

He kissed her, slowly and deeply. Then he carried her out of the water and laid her down in a soft spot in between some trees.

And they said things with their hands, bodies, and voices, that neither of them had ever said to anyone else.

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Two hours later the castaways were surprised to find them, Rhett and Scarlett, strolling hand in hand back towards the caves. The sun was bright and the devastation brought on by the others was vast and easy to see in the light of day.

"Hey there Doc." Sawyer said, a smile plastered on his face. "Figured you'd be monster chow by now."

"We all thought the same for you." He replied coldly. He turned to Kate, worry in his face. "Where have you been? We were worried."

Kate looked at Jack and then back at Sawyer. Sawyer no longer felt any insecurity and found the look on the doctors face to be very satisfying.

"We were making our way back here." She replied, with a secretive grin back towards Sawyer. He grinned back at her.

"Look Doc, don't rightly matter where we been now does it?" He reached out and took Kate's hand. "We're here now. Ready to serve my captain." He saluted, just to prove his point.

Kate stepped in then to prevent further hostility. "What Sawyer means Jack, is that we want to help in whatever way we can." She paused and looked up at Sawyer for conformation. Sawyer could resist that look. It was a look of pleading, of hoping, that he would come through for her. "So that they can't hurt anyone else."

Sawyer searched around the area with his eyes. He saw the rock star with his little girlfriend and her baby. He couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that they were ok. The kid that had gone missing was there too, apparently he had been found as well.

Sawyer vowed to make damn sure that none of them suffered again, but especially one certain person. He squeezed her hand tightly in acknowledgement of this.

"Jack." He said. The word sounded foreign in his own voice. Both Kate and Jack seemed to think the same thing. "I know we ain't exactly best buds, but I mean it when I say that I want to do whatever I can to keep those headhunters from gettan' near any of us again. I saw what those loons are capable of…" He looked over at Kate, who smiled in appreciation. "and whatever did that ain't human. Least not in the head anyway."

Jack looked at him for a moment, making Sawyer nervous. In a way it was like he was in the middle of a conversation with Kate's father. For Kate it was not just important that he and Jack get along, it was necessary.

And then, Jack did something he'd never done towards Sawyer. He offered his hand in friendship. Sawyer took it, shaking the man's hand in a silent truce. "Alright then." Jack said. "It was mainly the people on the beach who lost their lives. The rest of them were able to use the caves as a shelter. Sayid and I had an idea that if we could use the caves as a shelter we could…."

He led them towards the remains of their camp as he spoke about a new plan for their survival. Sawyer listened enough to understand, but he found himself preoccupied by the woman walking next to him.

They glanced back and forth, no longer in nervousness. There was no longer the hesitation to admit what was really going on. Only honesty and truth.

And unlike the story of Rhett and Scarlett, these two castaways were able to over come their stubbornness and fear in the name of love. And whatever the future would bring, Sawyer knew one thing.

He loved Scarlett. And this Rhett Butler wasn't about to walk away from that.


End file.
